Bittersweet Biology
by TwistOfFate4
Summary: Peter Bishop and Olivia Dunhem were forced into eachother's lives reluctantly, and found themselves needing eachother against their wills and natures to solve the strange cases that not only make them question who they are, but what the world has become
1. Chapter 1

Bittersweet Biology

Chapter one:

Walter's Laboratory:

Olivia Dunhem paced through the corridor, a look of determination was painted on her face, shedding light on the several thoughts that were racing through her mind as she approached the door.

Peter Bishop stared at Walter, 'Walter??'

'Shshsh, Peter shshsh...silence, I need silence...' the old man rambled as he rubbed his forehead in great discomfort.

'Walter-what the hell are you doing?!' Peter demanded as Walter began scribbling religiously on the back of some papers.

'Peter-be quiet-you're distracting me-'

Peter felt his heart begin to pound in his chest as he observed the erratic way in which his father was flinching and scribbling without even looking at the paper. He had to stop this, it looked as if Walter was about to lose control.

Walter suddenly ran to the filing cabinet and yanked out an entire draw, tossing file after file out of its folder-

'Walter! Stop!'

'Let GO OF ME!' Walter demanded his eyes still on the folders, he was looking for a file, that's all Peter could understand from the old man's peculiar behaviour.

'Hey-' Peter said as he put a calming hand on Walter's shoulder-That was all it took to make the elderly genius snap. Walter shoved his son aside, 'GET OUT OF MY STUDY BOY!' Peter fell into the cabinet, staring up in horror at the familiar and yet estranged monster that stood before him.

On registering his son's terror, Walter clutched his head and crouched, trying to gain his senses, Olivia walked in just in time to see Peter climbing to his feet.

'Peter what happened??' she asked with a concerned tone as she ran to Walter's side. Astrid stared in shock, having witnessed the entire encounter all she could do was watch.

'Peter!?' Olivia said loudly, her words demanded an answer, Peter simply scoffed as he straightened his jacket began walking out of the office.

'Peter...where are you going??' Olivia asked.

On being ignored, Olivia turned to Astrid, 'Okay...what the hell just happened?'

Peter and Walter's Apartment:

An hour and a half had passed since Walter's outburst at the laboratory, Peter stared at the bottle of alcohol on the table. He had the doubts and now he had yet another reason to leave Boston. He glanced at the door, it would have been so much easier to just walk out and leave L.A., than it would be to face his daddy-issues with a partially senile Walter. A melancholy smile tugged at his lips as he wallowed in self pity, he had to admit he was proud of himself for not hitting Walter back. Peter had every single right to, based on the childhood he had, no-one in the world deserved more to punch Walter Bishop in the face than Peter.

And yet, Peter couldn't bring himself too.

He found his eyes drift back to the bottle that sat before him, it almost taunted him to take a swig, reminding him how good it felt to let himself lose control like he did a few years back. But all Peter could do was stare at it. Something was tying him down to Boston, he didn't know what it was yet, but thought that if he stuck around long enough for himself to find closure, or whatever it was that his restless heart wanted, he would get it. It was just a matter of time. Then he'd be out of here. Away from Walter, away from Astrid, away from the science, away from Olivia...he shifted slightly as he thought of Olivia, an impressive woman and what was most impressive about her, was that she had no idea just how impressive she was. His heart sank in his chest alittle, Olivia needed him here so she could get her own closure by solving the cases behind her partner's death with the help of the Bishop men. It seemed like everybody lately was in a rush to get closure. Something that they all vied for in their own way, him and Olivia. Then there was Walter, who simply wanted to live free in the science he loved so much.

Peter wondered how Walter could behave so normal around him at times, as if all those years of abuse hadn't happened, as though all of Walter's anger outbursts hadn't occurred, as if the young Peter had never watched his mother leave them.

Three loud knocks at the door drew him out of his thoughts.

'I'm coming...' he replied reluctantly, walking over to the door he pulled it open. Olivia found herself face to face with a depressed looking Peter, her arms were folded and her eyes had the stubborn gaze that met Peter's own gaze full on, never flinching.

'Come back to the lab.' She said firmly.

Peter tried not to roll his eyes at the beautiful but blunt woman, 'No thankyou Sweetheart.'

'Don't call me that.' She retorted, casting Peter a look, she decided he wasn't coming with her to the building. 'Alright...fine, we can discuss the case here.'

Peter opened his mouth to argue but Olivia barged into the apartment, Peter let out an exasperated breath, 'Oh c'mon...' He muttered.

'You can feel sorry for yourself because your senile father lost his temper...' Olivia stepped closer to him, her eyes never leaving his, 'Or you can try and save several lives by helping me find out how it's possible for a man to spontaneously combust.'

This tweaked his interest, 'spontaneously?'

'Spontaneously.' She said with an amused look, Peter was pretty cute for a grumpy smartass she thought for a moment. 'You know what's funny.'

Peter gave her an uninterested look as he picked up the bottle of alcohol and put it on the kitchen counter.

'Walter as only interested by the 'spontaneously' part too.'

Peter turned around to face her as he leaned against the kitchen counter, a sarcastic smile painted on his lips, 'Thankyou, you've just changed my life.'

'Do you often sit in silence and stare at a bottle of unopened alcohol?' she quipped in return, Peter lifted his head slightly, Olivia smiled at the surprised expression she received, 'You should close the blinds if you don't wanna be seen.'

Peter let a genuine smile escape his lips as he shook his head.

'I thought I was the smartass.'

Olivia smirked at him as he took the file from her hands, she followed him to the couch as he sat down. She put her hands on her hips and began explaining what he was reading.

'Three dead bodies were found outside a coffee stand, the one in the middle was giving off much more heat than the other two...at first I thought it was like the electric radiation emitted by one of our old cases...but he emitted electrical impulses when he was distressed, but passersby said nothing was out of the unusual.'

'Maybe he was in a rush and got upset. Boom!'

Olivia frowned at his odd-sense of humour.

'It was a Sunday afternoon Peter. I doubt he was in a rush to go anywhere.'

Peter frowned at the report, 'it says here that he literally caught fire...from the inside.'

Olivia studied his concerned expression as he began thinking, she knew Peter well enough to know that there was something he knew about the case that he wasn't sharing.

'Talk to Walter.' Peter simply said as he handed her the files.

'Peter...'

'Olivia-I think this is one of the things he worked on.'

'He denies any recollection of it.'

Peter smiled slightly, 'Look, last night, I came home and he stared at me for three minutes in silence until saying, 'who are you?'...I left the room and then walked back in and he was perfectly normal again.'

Olivia felt a wave of sympathy and guilt hit her as she listened to him, she was beginning to understand just how much of a burden being the legal guardian of Walter Bishop was.

The instant Peter noticed sympathy brewing in her eyes, he shrugged it off, 'Ask him again later.'

Olivia nodded as Peter walked past her, she paused for a moment.

'What triggered his outburst earlier...did you say anything?' she asked him.

'It's not my words that used to irritate him, it was simply my presence.'

Olivia's heart sank in her chest, she knew she had asked alot of Peter when he agreed to sign the Legal Guardian papers, but she needed him in order to be okay with John's death and all that had happened since.

Peter felt her eyes on him, 'What?' he asked as he turned around to face her, Olivia's softened demeanour changed, she didn't know why, but she felt defensive all of a sudden, it was almost as if by, simply laying eyes on him gratefully had revealed something about her that she wasn't prepared to know.

'I'll see you at the lab in an hour.'

With that she walked out of the apartment, Peter watched her go, wondering what had just happened in the smallest of moments, maybe it was just his imagination...or maybe he had really felt something between Olivia and him for a second...

End chapter one:


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two:

Astrid studied Walter as he played with methane compounds and fire.

'How's it going Walter?'

'Hello...' Walter said blankly at the young girl, whose name he had once again forgotten, 'do forgive me, I think...I've forgotten your...'

'Astrid. Walter, it's Astrid.' She replied with a smile.

'Right, right, Astrid, did you know that CH4, or what you commonly know as Methane is classed as a Phase 12 risk?'

'Uh...'

'Also...it is odourless...so...' he began whispering as he leaned over the heat proof container that had a pipe going through it, enabling it to release Methane into the box, whilst he lit a lighter and dangled it above the container, 'its a lethal asphyxiant if used correctly...also, highly explosive-you see, the concept of spontaneous combustion is interesting because rarely are things in the world of science spontaneous-in actual fact-it is the methane- itself when combined with a trigger, that causes things to combust.'

He dropped the ignited lighter into the container and quickly shut the lid, a large explosion made the container jump along with Astrid and Walter, who was now laughing heartedly.

'However, in the case of the perpetrator-'

'Victim.' she corrected.

'Yes, yes, in their case...' he mumbled, 'Methane is not the cause.'

'How do you know?'

'For spontaneous combustion to occur-by manipulation that is-which alot of these cases are seeming to be based on-you would need the correct internal environment-along with the flammable fluids that would encourage and almost feed the fire-allowing it to explode...Not all fluids inside us are flammable you see...Astrid.'

Astrid blinked at the man.

'Astrid?' He queried, Astrid looked up at him.

'Yes?'

'Do you see?' he nodded, as if a teacher speaking to a pupil, Astrid nodded.

'I see.' She said politely, doing her best not to take his patronising behaviour to heart.

'Where's Peter?' the man enquired, suddenly aware that his son wasn't present.

'He uh...'

'He left because I lost my temper earlier-I-I- told him, I asked him to be silent Astrid I did...' Walter stammered almost apologetically.

'It's okay Walter, he'll understand, he'll be back soon.' She said comfortingly.

Walter nodded, 'I miss the symphonies he plays on the piano, it's-it's something his mother taught him.' Walter said with a smile, his smile slowly faded as he added, 'before she left us.' For a moment that felt like a lifetime, Walter Bishop stood completely still, lost to the rational world amidst a single emotion.

'Walter? Are you okay?' The elderly man seemed to have tears glistening in his eyes, this was the first time Astrid had seen him look so wounded. Her heart went out to him, 'Walter, let me get you some root beer.'

Walter didn't move from the spot, instead he simply nodded dismissively.

Olivia glanced in her rear view mirror, she could see Peter's jeep a few metres behind hers, she turned her eyes back to the road, they were heading to the lab. Olivia wondered if Massive Dynamics was behind the experiment. She had so many unanswered questions in relation to her own life that when working on a case the sense of closure she felt when solving one, lightened the burden she constantly carried on her shoulders.

The sound of John's voice met her ear, 'Liv...' Olivia glanced to her right to see him there-cold but alive-her heart pounded in her chest as the world began to spin, 'Liv...I'm sorry.' Olivia stared at what wasn't really there in shock, her instincts made her look ahead, only to see John Scott standing in the middle of the road as she sped towards him, Olivia suddenly swerved to the right, avoiding the man that wasn't there, her car collided with a passing lorry.

Peter swerved to a halt, panic gripped him as he ran to the overturned car, 'Olivia!' he yelled as he yanked the car door open, Olivia's eyes landed on his for an instant, he could see she was lost and confused, 'I've got you, I've gotcha...' he whispered as he pulled her out of the wreckage, 'You're gonna be okay...' fear had taken over his senses, 'stay with me...hey, open your eyes...okay?' The urgency in his voice wasn't enough to stop her from drifting in and out of consciousness as she lay in his arms.

Olivia's eyes felt heavy, she could see the man who was holding her, but couldn't identify him, she knew who she wanted it to be as she whispered his name, 'John...'

Peter stared down at her, did she just call him John? Her eyes fluttered shut.

Gathering his strength, Peter lifted her into his arms and carried her towards the approaching ambulance. Adrenaline pumped through his veins, he knew she'd be okay, she had no major injuries, she was merely concussed. The adrenaline that flowed through him in response to almost losing her was irrational and misplaced he told himself. He was just in shock, that was all. Him and Olivia were barely friends, albeit reluctant colleagues, besides she had made it clear her heart was with John Scott. Peter wondered if John had had any idea of how lucky he was to have someone like Olivia, someone so sincerely committed to him. Peter had loved someone once, but soon discovered the difference between wanting to love someone and actually loving someone.

Peter knew one thing though, Olivia's attachment to the deceased John Scott wasn't good for her.

A paramedic ushered Peter to the gurney as Peter lay Olivia onto it carefully so not to hurt her.

'Are you family?'

'I'm with the FBI...' he said, the paramedic gave him a nod of approval and let him onto the ambulance.

Laboratory:

Astrid put the phone down and turned to Walter, 'Agent Dunhem had a car accident-Peter's at the hospital with her.'

'Peter hates hospitals.' Walter replied, seemingly unaffected by the news.

Astrid studied Walter, 'Any luck with the spontaneous combustion?'

'It's 'manipulated' combusted actually. As I said earlier-the individual's fluids consisted of flammable ones that are not naturally present within humans.'

'Right...' Astrid replied, 'So you're thinking someone did this to him...?'

'No. I know somebody did this to him. I have done this in the past to subjects.'

'People-'

'Subjects.'

That night at the hospital:

Olivia stirred at the sound of the hospital monitor as it beeped steadily, the throbbing in her head was the first thing she became aware of as she awoke in the hospital bed. The second thing was clock on the wall, she had been asleep all night, it was 4am...

As she turned her head, both the third thing she noticed and the thing that stood out most in the hospital room was Peter. He was right by her side on a chair, he was fast asleep, but he was there. She watched him for a moment as her memory jogged itself through what had happened earlier. John was in her car, then he was on the road, then she woke up here: in the shady hospital with three empty cups of coffee and a sleeping Peter.

Peter jolted awake, as though he was awaking from a nightmare. The instant his eyes landed on Olivia he changed his vulnerable expression to a concerned one.

'Hey.' She said with a smile.

'I'm driving us both to the lab next time.' He smiled, hiding his relief.

Olivia rolled her eyes, 'Car-pool's aren't really my thing.'

'Watching people who aren't well enough to drive risk their lives isn't my thing.' He replied shortly.

'I'm fine.'

'Don't lie to me.' He said with a wry smile.

'I don't want to talk about it.' She said as she cast her gaze to the ground.

'Do you still see him?'

His question needn't be clarified, Olivia knew exactly who Peter was referring to.

'Olivia?' he prompted.

This made her meet his gaze as excuses tried to leave her lips, 'Peter...'

'You still see him.' He answered for her.

'Look,' she argued, suddenly defensive of her emotional state, 'That's got nothing to do with-'

'I told you that procedure wasn't safe-I told you Walter was crazy-' He said firmly, interrupting her with a look of disdain.

'It was MY decision!'

'You almost DIED out there!'

'That's not your problem!' She yelled back at him. Peter nodded, her words had triggered something inside him, he had had enough.

Climbing to his feet, he grabbed his jacket.

'Peter...' Olivia said softly, immediately regretting arguing with the man who had saved her.

'No-No, you're right. This isn't my problem.' He said as he threw a glance at the hospital room, turning to face her now, he added, 'YOU are not my problem, you wanna die? go ahead.' He spat at her angrily, 'You wanna pine over some guy who was stupid enough to lie to a girl like you, feel free...I'm not gonna stop you.' Olivia stared at him as he headed for the door.

Who did he think he was? What was between her and John was none of his business, she thought to herself as she let out both a frustrated and somewhat exhausted sigh. She knew Peter had a point, seeing her deceased ex was NOT a good thing. This much she knew, but Olivia Dunhem was a stubborn woman, and finally telling a man she loved him, only to have him betray her, was something she couldn't accept. She simply didn't make mistakes like that. She didn't give herself to just anyone. The web of lies and twists John had left behind for her kept her restless and almost trapped in the past. She needed to be okay with knowing who he really was, and what they truly had.

Until she got closure, she would continue to see him, whether she liked it or not.

'Liv?' Olivia looked up at the door frame to see Agent Charlie Francis, she tried to smile at the familiar face, he nodded at the corridor behind him, 'I take it you're having trouble with Bishop Junior?'

'His name's Peter,' she replied, 'what are you doing here?'

'Broyles wants you to come in and see him.'

'I'm in hospital...' she said incredulously.

'Do you honestly think a man like him cares?'

Olivia sighed as she lay back in the bed. 'Tell him I'll be there in an hour.'

Charlie handed her his cellphone, 'you tell him.'

Olivia took the phone, 'He sent you here to come get me?'

'No, I heard you were hurt, and I'm your emergency contact. Which I still think is really sad.' Olivia threw him a glare, he smiled, curious, 'So...what happened?'

'I had a car accident.'

'an 'accident'?' he asked suspiciously, 'Liv, you and I both know you're the careful type...'

Olivia looked away, afraid that her friend might see through her.

'Like I said, it was an accident, with everything that's been going on lately, I just...I wasn't paying attention.'

'Then start paying it.' He said, 'the last thing I need is to lose another friend. I know you like to think you're alone...but you're not.' He touched her hand comfortingly, Olivia shifted uncomfortably. She appreciated the kindness but she didn't need it, nor did she want it.

She flipped open his cellphone and began dialling, 'Broyles? It's Agent Dunhem, I'm on my way.' She said simply and hung up.

'I better get to work Charlie.' She said softly, taking the hint Charlie climbed to his feet.

'Let me know if you need anything.'

Olivia nodded gratefully as he left.

FBI building:

Broyles stared at the files infront of him, Agent Dunhem's voice grabbed his attention.

'You wanted to see me?' she asked from the doorway.

Broyles straightened in his chair, his steel gaze meeting hers full on. 'I believe civilians call it 'knocking.' You should try that next time.'

Olivia smiled apologetically, his eyes drifted to her forehead, 'you're injured.'

'Just a small cut. It's nothing.'

'Are you okay?' His question didn't refer to physical injury, it referred to her in general.

'I'm fine. Why did you ask me to come in?'

'How far have you gotten with your latest case?'

'Bishop's working on what substances were manipulated to cause the combustion.'

'Any leads as to who's behind them?'

'I thought there was only one case of the spontaneous combustion?'

'No, I mean all of the cases you've studied lately. Have you found any solid evidence to incriminate anyone?'

'Not yet. It's too early to bring anyone in...I need more time.'

'Just bare in mind the more these cases occur, the more they will fall into the sight of the media. We need to keep this quiet. Do not underestimate the importance of confidentiality and secrecy required for your Assignment.'

'Ofcourse,' Olivia nodded in response.

'Agent Francis is your emergency contact.' He added calmly, 'Now that you're on a special assignment, if anything is to happen to you in relation to the assignment, you are required to select someone on your assignment as an emergency contact.'

Olivia frowned slightly at him, prompting him to explain, which he did, 'Confidentiality. Special Assignments are just that Agent Dunhem, they're special. Elite. '

That evening at the laboratory:

Walter glanced up at the sound of a third set of footsteps, 'Good evening Agent Dunhem.'

Olivia glanced at Walter and Astrid, 'Where's Peter?' she asked, doing her best to seem casual.

'Peter's here.' Peter replied from behind her.

Olivia turned on her heel, 'Hey...'

'I went to get coffee, I didn't realise I had to run that by you...' he added.

Olivia ignored his jibe, she wasn't in the mood to rise to the bait, 'What have you found?' She asked Walter as she noticed Peter settle onto a chair in the corner of her eye.

'Somebody did this to him. That much I have confirmed. Now you have to find out who.' Walter turned to Peter, 'I feel drowsy, can you take us home now?'

Astrid piped up from behind him, 'I'm taking you home Walter, Peter's going to search through files here at the lab to find possible suspects.'

Olivia glanced at Peter who was flipping through a folder, barely even acknowledging what the others were talking about.

She walked over to him, 'Those files are confidential.'

'I have access Sweetheart.

'From who?

'Broyles.'

Olivia studied him as he turned his attention back to the folder and pulled out several pieces of paper.

On hearing Olivia pull up a chair, Peter looked up, almost concerned.

'What are you doing?'

'Pulling up a chair.' She replied shortly as she settled into the chair and reached for a folder.

Peter stared at her as she began flipping through it.

Olivia looked up at him, 'what?'

He wanted to tell her to go home and get some rest but he knew she wouldn't appreciate it coming from him. Afterall, as she had so eloquently stated previously, she wasn't his problem.

'You don't need to stay here...' he offered tactfully.

'I want to.' she said as she read through the file.

Peter nodded, he glanced down at the papers infront of him, it was Olivia's turn to study him, 'About what happened in the hospital...'

'It's fine.' He assured her.

'I wasn't apologising.' She said with an offended frown, 'you're arrogant you know that right?'

Peter tried not to smile.

'And you're difficult, and completely anti-social and then-for some reason that only you're aware of, you care.'

'Guess we're not so different afterall.' He said softly.

Olivia's eyes met his, 'I know you were just trying to look out for me before Peter...But I can handle my own problems.'

'I can see that.' He said whilst nodding at the cut on her forehead.

She gave him a warning look as he turned back to the files in his hands.

'Are we-...' she thought of the word for a moment.

'We're fine Olivia. Don't worry about it.'

His warm smile eased the tension between them.

'Good.' She said with a relieved tone.

'Great.' He forced a smile.

'Let's find out who's doing this.'

'I already have...' he rifled through some papers, finding the appropriate file, he looked across at her.

Olivia gave him an impressed look.

'I'm more than just a pretty face...' he joked, Olivia smiled as she reached for the file he was holding out for her.

'I never said you weren't.' She replied.

She flipped open the file and read the name aloud, 'Eric Rosenbaum. Graduated with a Doctorate in Pharmaceutical Psychology, renowned for his research into complex stimulants for combustion...I think we've found our guy.'

'We?'

Olivia smirked, 'We.' Her expression turned serious as she read through his file, 'why would he want to know how to cause humans to spontaneously combust??'

'It'd be the perfect weapon. You get a bunch of people you're using for trials, tell them its a drug trial to make them learn faster or something-allow their bodies to take up the desired chemicals and input a chemical-timer into their bodies. When you want to use them as a weapon, you tell them to meet you to discuss your feedback at a certain time and place-they turn up. You don't. The desired target arrives and boom. Government chalks it off to a weird case of spontaneous combustion...'

'You're saying the two people standing near this man in the cue weren't random...?'

'I'm saying why would a man as smart as him let one of his weapons go to waste.'

'Who would he wanna eliminate?'

'You mean murder? Competition...there's an incredibly high demand for new chemical-based weapons...my guess is one of the people in that cue had been contacted by Rosenbaum, to meet-maybe even reach a compromise...but it was just a set up, so Rosenbaum could eliminate his competition-'

'And if he's the only one left alive who knows how to cause spontaneous combustion in biological agents-his worth goes up...he becomes invaluable.'

'Exactly.'

Olivia climbed to her feet, 'I'm gonna tell Broyles, the sooner we get clearance to bring him in, the better-he could be experimenting on innocent people right now...' she headed for the door, Peter followed.

'Wait up, I need to speak to him.'

'Broyles?' she asked quizzically.

'Yeah...'

She looked at him expectantly.

'I've got...some things to sort out.'

Olivia studied him, 'what's wrong?'

'Nothing.' He lied, 'I'm driving.' With that he walked out of the lab, Olivia watched him go.

End chapter two:


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three:

Broyles nodded at Olivia and Peter as they rifled through the file, Olivia handed it to Broyles, 'This shows all the experiments he's done in the USA that are related to controlling metabolisms and manipulating them to produce high levels of heat within humans.'

Broyles had his usual look of doubt as he glanced over the files, 'Surely a man this smart wouldn't be so obvious and brash about his work.'

'That's the thing,' Peter interrupted, 'He's untouchable, the CIA promised him immunity from the American Law in exchange for him to work for them on areas that aren't exactly legal or safe.'

This seemed to irritate Broyles. After a moment of thought he glanced at Olivia, 'I'll have Langley send me an agent.'

Peter raised an eyebrow at Broyles, the man must have been pretty powerful if he could just snap his fingers and get himself an agent from another Intelligence Agency.

'Is that all?' Broyles asked both of them expectantly.

'Yes-' Olivia started to say, but Peter cut her off.

'Actually...I wanted to talk to you about something...'

Olivia glanced at Peter and Broyles who gave her a look that implied they were waiting for her to leave, furrowing her brow at Peter, she turned and headed out of the door.

'What's the matter M r Bishop? '

'I want a gun.'

'Excuse me?'

'You've read my file, you know I'm capable of handling weapons...You know I'm smart. Therefore you know I know just how risky these cases are, and if I'm protecting Walter and Olivia? I need a gun...Just in case.'

Broyles nodded at the young man, 'You're protecting Walter. Olivia isn't your responsibility.'

'Olivia has no idea just how risky her job is.' Peter said firmly, 'Just because she's in the dark, does not mean I am.'

'With all due respect Mr Bishop. I trust your intentions are good, but what's the real reason you want the gun?'

Peter stared at him, _how did Broyles' just read me?? _He wondered to himself.

'Do they know where you are?'

'It's not the mob I'm worried about.'

This seemed to get Broyles' attention, he wasn't used to not knowing things.

'Then what are you worried about?'

'Will you grant me the authority to get a gun or do I have to forge my own license for a weapon?' Peter asked shortly.

'You will have the right to carry a weapon, but you can only use it in an emergency and any bullets fired WILL be recorded. Understood?'

'Why have a weapon if you won't allow me to use it??'

'Until I get a clear view of your loyalties, that's the best I can offer.'

Peter let out a sigh, something was better than nothing.

'Fair enough.' Peter nodded.

'Is there anything else?'

'I want to find someone...'

'And you want access to more files?'

Peter nodded, 'Something like that.'

'Which files do you want access to?'

'Civilian files.'

Broyles paused, 'I don't think that whoever you're looking for is relevant to your work with us-'

'I never said it was.'

Broyles studied Peter carefully, 'is this about New Orleans?'

Peter watched him carefully, 'How do you know about New Orleans?'

'I have more than just your file Peter.'

Peter shifted in his seat uncomfortably.

'I don't think you should pursue her.' Peter glanced at the door.

'Who?' he asked without looking back at Broyles.

Broyles leant forwards across his desk, drawing Peter's gaze to his.

'You know who.'

Outside the office, Olivia did her best not to feel guilty for eavesdropping, she began walking hurriedly along the corridor on hearing Peter climb to his feet.

Her heart pounded in her chest as she quickly paced down the corridor.

'Olivia...' Peter's voice called from the office door as he emerged into the hallway.

Olivia flinched,_ damn it._

Opening her eyes, she turned around and gave him a polite smile, 'You done?'

'Yeah...' he said with a bemused expression. They began walking shoulder to shoulder, 'Let's go question Rosenbaum.'

Olivia felt relief wash over her, he hadn't figured out she was eavesdropping. She smiled sincerely at him, 'Sounds like a plan.'

He slowed down, falling a few steps back, 'Oh and Olivia...?'

'Yeah?'

'Next time you eavesdrop...' she flinched again, 'you might not wanna stand so close to the door.'

'I can explain...' she mumbled.

'No, it's okay...you're curious about me...'

Olivia scoffed as she stopped in her steps, she was not curious about him!

'I have that effect on women.' He smirked as he walked past her, now he was leading the way. Olivia stared after him for a moment, he threw her a smug grin, she laughed out of exasperation as she shook her head.

_Peter Bishop_, she thought to herself, whilst fighting the urge to roll her eyes.

Her smile slowly faded as she stood still for a moment, watching him turn away. How did he manage to make her smile so much?

Langley Pharmaceutical Research Lab:

'Doctor Eric Rosenbaum?'

Eric Rosenbaum turned on his heel allowing his eyes to land on the attractive young woman who stood in his lab.

'Can I help you?'

'I'm Agent Dunhem with the FBI.'

Eric felt his interest in the beauty suddenly wane.

'Maybe you should arrange an appointment to see me Miss Dunhem.'

'It's Agent Dunhem.' She said with an offended expression.

'Look Agent Dunhem...' he clenched his jaw, the agent clearly had no idea of who he was, 'I will not be corrected by an expendable resource that belongs to the government.'

Olivia glared at the patronising pompous Doctor.

She grabbed his collar and slammed him into the wall, 'And you would know all about expendable things...like the people you've been using for your research into spontaneous combustion??'

Peter entered the room, 'What's going on??'

'I will have my lawyer contact your boss's boss!' he said to her angrily. 'How dare you even set foot in this place without a warrant?!'

Peter rolled open the warrant, 'you mean without one of these?'

Olivia smirked at Rosenbaum, he reached behind him and quickly pulled out a gun.

Olivia pulled out hers, aiming it straight at his forehead.

'Miss Dunhem...you are aware that there are no cameras in my office.' He taunted as he aimed his gun at her.

Peter glanced around, he was telling the truth, Olivia didn't move, she held her aim stubbornly.

'Put down your weapon Rosenbaum.'

Rosenbaum scoffed, he carefully pushed a button on his phone, 'Lance get in here.'

Moments later a burley man entered the room from behind Peter, holding a stun gun.

'Woah, okay...everyone just stay calm.' Peter said, his eyes drifted over to Rosenbaum, Peter calmly walked towards Eric with his hands raised in the air.

'What are you doing?' Rosenbaum demanded.

Peter smiled at him, 'There are cameras every where else in your building. Cameras that the CIA are monitoring...and they've seen one of the FBI's agents walk into your office.' Peter said as Rosenbaum stepped back, Olivia watched Peter, what the hell was he doing?? Peter didn't even have a weapon. On hearing Lance move, Olivia turned and pointed her gun at Lance. Rosenbaum pointed his at Peter.

Peter didn't seem phased by the threat, 'I'm sure they'll wonder why she never walked out.' Peter tried not to smile, he could read people very well, and Rosenbaum was buying into his words, which meant he was dropping his guard. Peter's eyes drifted to the filing cabinet besides Rosenbaum.

In one swift move, Peter disarmed Rosenbaum, slamming the hand with the weapon into the metal filing cabinet.

'Peter?!' yelled angrily.

Peter punched Rosenbaum in the face, sending him collapsing backwards into a heap.

Lance grabbed Olivia, holding the stun gun to her temple.

Peter grabbed the gun and aimed it at Lance, his eyes drifted to Olivia as Lance used her as a shield.

'Lower your gun.' Lance ordered him, Olivia stared at Peter, who was surprised to find himself lowering his weapon.

Olivia sensed Lance loosen his hold on her for a split-second, in which she elbowed him in the ribs, causing him to buckle, and then stunned him with his own stun gun.

Peter let out a shocked laugh, 'THAT was impressive-'

Olivia turned to face him, she was absolutely furious.

'What the hell was that?!'

'What?' he asked sheepishly.

'THAT-' she said as she nodded at Rosenbaum's body.

'I was just-'

'You could have been shot! You are not an agent-You had no right to disarm him-'

'Right, because you had it all under control.' He mocked her.

'What if he had shot you?!'

'What if he had shot you??' Peter asked in return.

Olivia glared at him, 'He wouldn't have-'

'You don't know that.'

She ran her hands through her hair as she assessed the damage, her eyes drifted from an unconscious Lance to a groaning Rosenbaum.

'Broyles is gonna be pissed.'

'Why?' Peter scoffed, 'Because you pissed off a rich man?'

Olivia shot him a look.

Outside the building:

Peter followed Olivia as she headed towards the car.

'What?' he called, 'Do you want me to apologise or something??'

Olivia turned on her heel, looking him straight in the eye, 'If you wanna come into the field with me. Then you do as I say. I don't want heroics Peter. I want you alive. I just lost someone I worked with. I will not lose someone else.'

The weight of her words landed on his shoulders as he lowered his gaze, for a moment he felt guilty.

Olivia took in a deep breath, she hated it when she had no choice but to be vulnerable with someone. She hated letting herself feel weak like this, but she really couldn't take another death right now.

'I'm driving.' Olivia said bluntly as she climbed into the driver seat.

Without arguing, Peter climbed into the passenger side.

A heavy silence sat between them for the next two minutes.

Olivia finally managed to glance at him, but he was staring straight ahead of him, she wondered what he was thinking about as he peered out at the grey buildings.

'You're not expendable you know.' He said after a moment, Olivia's eyes drifted to his, she turned back to the road.

'What do you mean?' she asked.

'Rosenbaum, he said you were expendable. He's wrong. I think you're smart enough to see the difference in being a replacement for someone and being just expendable.'

Olivia frowned as she began to understand what he meant. He thought she was John's replacement for Broyles.

'I am not his replacement.'

'Ask Broyles.'

'Why me?'

'Who else would your partner have trusted with his life?' Peter asked the beautiful blonde.

Olivia turned her attention back to the road, the thought of being John's replacement played on her mind. Was that really what she was? A replacement? Did Broyles know the truth about John's betrayal? Had John been working for Broyles all along?? Hundreds of questions flooded her mind within seconds. One question made her pause.

How much more did Peter know about John?

She glanced at the man who had saved her life.

'Peter?'

Peter looked at her.

'Is there anything I should know about Agent John Scott that I don't know already?'

Peter stared at her for a long moment before speaking. Letting her feel exposed under his gaze.

'Ask Broyles.' He said in a low voice.

Olivia studied him for a second more before turning her eyes back to the road.

She would ask Broyles as soon as the case was over.

Laboratory:

Walter stared at the television, 'Want popcorn?' He asked Astrid from the couch, 'No thanks.' Astrid said from her desk. She had been rifling through Walter's findings. Some were incredibly lucid and others were either a complex shorthand or just random ramblings.

'Walter...is that who I think it is?' she asked as she picked up a photograph of Walter and a boy.

Walter blinked at it, 'That depends Astri...-' he had forgotten her name again.

'Astrid.' She said with a smile.

'That depends Astrid.' He said with a smile, 'If you think it's Peter, then yes. It is who you think it is.'

Astrid grinned at the photograph, 'Peter was a damn cute child.'

'He was stubborn though. You should have seen the tantrums he'd throw when I broke a promise.'

Astrid laughed as Walter turned back to the T.V. and chewed popcorn.

Her smile faded as she read the file that the photograph was in.

'Extensive ability to solve puzzles at age 8.' She read quietly, 'Telepathy succeeded on 4 out of 6 occasions.' In that instant Astrid momentarily lost all respect for Walter Bishop, who had apparently used his own son to experiment on in relation to telepathy. It would explain Peter's ability to read people so well, and the high I.Q., according to the report his sense of ration was highly developed, but more dangerously, so was his sense of imagination. This would profile Peter Bishop as impressively intelligent, but just as passionate and impulsive. Explaining his commitophobic behaviour.

Astrid closed the file quickly, she decided to give it to Agent Dunhem when she had the chance. She wondered how Walter had access to the file, she glanced at the date, 'Updated 7th, November, 2008. W.B.' She glanced at Walter, who was intently watching Spongebob Square pants. Walter had re-written it from memory. Her jaw hung open in awe for a moment.

FBI building:

Broyles slammed the phone down on his desk and stared at Olivia and Peter.

'That was Rosenbaum's lawyers from Langley. They want to know why exactly Rosenbaum was left beaten in his own office without cause.'

'He held Agent Dunhem at gunpoint!' Peter argued.

'That's not your concern.' Olivia glanced at Peter to see his reaction, 'Agent Dunhem is highly trained and was the one who should have been calling the shots.' He turned to Olivia now, 'If you can't handle him-' he nodded at Peter. 'Then don't take him out into the field.'

'I'm right here-' Peter exclaimed.

'I can handle him. He won't be a problem again.'

'You agree to take complete responsibility of his actions?'

Peter turned to Olivia, 'you don't have to agree to that-' he said firmly, 'he can't force you to-'

'Yes sir. I agree.'

Peter scowled at Olivia. The last thing he needed was a babysitter.

'By law...' Broyles said with a smile, 'That makes you his...' he turned to Peter, so he could watch the word hit him, 'Babysitter.'

'I don't need a babysitter-' he argued helplessly.

'I wasn't asking if you did.'

Peter folded his arms, Olivia tried not to smile at his unimpressed expression. Peter shook his head at her as she broke into a grin.

Broyles' eyes drifted from Olivia to Peter and then back to Olivia. And what he saw brewing between them unsettled him.

Peter's cellphone rang suddenly, flipping it open, Peter answered, 'Yes Walter. I'll be there twenty five minutes...' a pause, 'no...not thirty four. Twenty five.' He sighed, 'No, don't save me any popcorn. See ya...' he hung up and turned to Olivia and Broyles, 'I gotta go...'

Broyles nodded, dismissing him. Olivia gave Peter a smile, he returned the small gesture with a half-hearted wave.

Olivia waited for the door to close before speaking to Broyles.

'I thought you learnt from your mistakes Agent Dunhem.' Broyles said coolly.

She turned around to face him, 'What?'

Broyles nodded at the doorway, 'You and Walter's son...'

Olivia scowled at him, 'You better not suggesting what I think you are.'

'Then don't give me reason to.' he said simply, 'you know how hard it was for you to lose Agent Scott, I wouldn't want you to go through something similar with Bishop.'

Olivia stared at Broyles, 'I do not have romantic feelings for Bishop. He just helps with solving cases and dealing with Walter-which he's very good at. Trust me.'

Broyles gave her a look that suggested he didn't trust her. Not on this.

Olivia frowned at him, 'Broyles, Peter and I are two professionals.'

'So were you and Agent Scott.' Broyles said calmly.

Olivia stared at him relentlessly, her voice was more adamant than ever.

'The only thing that Peter and I have between us...is WORK.'

Broyles nodded and then fell silent.

Olivia studied him, she did her best not to look flustered. She told herself she wasn't attracted to Peter. End of topic.

'Am I Agent Scott's replacement?'

Broyles smiled slightly as she spoke, 'My special assignment, was it his...?'

'Agent Dunhem, don't ask me questions you already know the answer to.'

'Then tell me this much...' Tears stung her eyes, '...Was he a traitor to the FBI?'

Broyles took in a deep breath, this was the first time Olivia had seen him look hesitant.

'He didn't only betray us, he betrayed you.'

Olivia took the hit straight on her heart. She blinked back tears, John had played her, she had told him she loved him, and he had played her.

Clenching her jaw, she picked her car keys up from the desk, 'I'll report to you tomorrow if I make any progress.' Broyles watched the woman closely as she headed for the door.

'About Peter Bishop....' He said, causing her to stop in her steps.

'You smile more around him.' He said distantly, not saying a word, Olivia walked out of the office.

Peter's place, at 3Am:

A knock at Peter's door made him reluctantly roll off the couch. He climbed to his feet as he stifled a yawn. Stretching as he approached the door, 'I'm comin...' he mumbled groggily.

He pulled open the door to see a heartbroken looking Olivia staring up at him, 'Hi...' she whispered as her voice caught in her throat.

'Hi...' he said, his tiredness had been replaced by concern, 'You okay?'

'I couldn't sleep.' She said softly, as the man dressed in only a pair of slacks stepped back and ushered her into the apartment.

'Come on in,' he said softly, 'coffee?' he asked as he wandered over to the kitchen.

'No thanks.'

'I'm making you some anyway.' He said simply, this bought a smile to her lips.

'Thanks Peter.' She said, Peter smiled at her from the kitchen counter, in return she gave him a melancholy smile. Pouring coffee in for both of them, he walked over to her, handing her the cup, he sad opposite her as he ran a hand through his short but wavy hair. Olivia smiled at him, 'I'm sorry I woke you...I just...Now that I'm on special assignment...you're the only person I can really talk to.'

Peter studied her, 'what happened?'

'Agent Scott was a traitor to the FBI...but you already knew that.' She said, a hint of regret in her tone. She lifted her eyes, that felt heavier than usual, to meet his, but he looked away.

'When I asked you in the car about John... why didn't you say anything?'

Peter smiled sadly, 'Do you honestly think you would have believed me?'

Olivia watched him as he spoke, 'Look...' he said with a soft smile, 'You wanted so much for him to be the kind of guy a woman like you could love...and...knowing you lost him the way you did...' he looked down, 'I just didn't wanna be the one to ruin your image of him. In my experience I've found that, when you really get to know someone...when the layers fall away, the truth is never what you want it to be or need it to be.'

He didn't know how to tell her he wanted to protect her from her own hopes for as long as he could have. He knew how it felt to be let down by someone you loved.

Unbeknownst to Peter, Olivia didn't need him to say it, she already understood what he had been trying to do.

'Thankyou.'

'For what?' he asked with a slight frown.

Instead of speaking, she gave him a slight smile as she wiped tears from her eyes.

'In the month and two weeks I've known you...I've confided in you more about who I am than I ever did with John...why is that?'

Peter shrugged slightly, a sincere look on his face as he spoke, 'Sometimes, Its hard to love someone and trust them with who you really are...' He noticed how her eyes glistened in the dim lighting. His eyes drifted to her lips, and for a split second, Olivia found herself lean closer to him, a knock at the door made Peter snap out of his gaze, and Olivia's rational state of mind returned to her. What the hell was she thinking just then?? She had been about to kiss Peter!

She silently scolded herself, and was glad the someone had knocked at the door.

'It's 3AM...' Peter said grumpily. 'Do people in Boston just not sleep?' He quipped to Olivia as he pulled the door open.

Olivia smiled at him, secretly relieved he hadn't noticed her small lapse in judgement moments earlier. What if she had kissed him?? Thankgod someone knocked on the door. She was just upset and emotional. It was nothing. What she had felt just then was nothing. They were colleagues and that was it.

She suddenly realised that Peter hadn't spoken a word since answering the door. She turned around to see that Peter was no longer there. She heard somebody grunt in the hallway and then two sets of footsteps.

'Peter??' She called, there was no response.

'Peter...?'

She headed for the hallway to see two men carrying an unconscious Peter towards the elevator. 'HEY!' she called after them, completely unaware that her yelling awoke Walter, who was now anxious to know where Peter was.

'Agent Dunhem?' he asked with a confused expression, she turned to Walter.

'You stay here.' She said firmly to the rarely lucid genius.

'But where's Peter...?' he mumbled. 'Have they taken him?' he asked with a terrified expression, he looked to Olivia for an answer, but Olivia was already sprinting down the hallway after the two men who had Peter. One of them was in the elevator, the other was heading towards the elevator, but turned around to shoot at Olivia, missing her by an inch, she ducked quickly.

Who the hell were they and why had they taken Peter??

Olivia glared at the man with the gun who smiled coldly as the elevator doors shut, separating her from Peter and the two men. It was in times like these when she wished she was carrying her gun.

She ran down the hallway that now seemed longer than before, the sound of her feet pounding against the ground only urged her to run faster than before. Her heart pounded rapidly in her chest. Where were they taking him? What were they planning on doing to him? Several questions flashed through her mind, but the only rationalisation she could reach was this; She needed to save Peter.

She ran down the stairs, leaping over the banister.

Walter was wracked with terror, they had taken his boy, they had taken his son. He ran after Olivia, unable to keep up due to his old age he stumbled down the stairs.

'Agent Dunhem! Help Peter!' he yelled as he tried to regain his footing.

Olivia reluctantly stopped in her steps on seeing Walter fall, she knew Peter wouldn't forgive her if she left Walter laying there and went after Peter.

She turned around and ran over to Walter, 'Walter! Are you okay?'

He wheezed as he struggled to breathe, 'My son...help him,' he pleaded as he fell out of consciousness. Olivia stared down at Walter and then turned to the empty stairwell, she flipped open her cellphone, '911, I need an Ambulance-this is Agent Dunhem, I'm with the FBI, send a back up team too, I'm at the Clarendon Apartment Block, on West Street...hurry.'

She decided that the instant the paramedics got there she would go after Peter. She heard a van speed away outside. Walter lay limp in her arms, 'It'll be okay...' she lied to the injured father. Her heart was still pounding in her chest, her legs throbbed from the sudden sprinting she had broken into. Closing her eyes, she tried to gain control of her emotions. Fear, panic, adrenaline, shock, and anger were merely a taste of what she was feeling.

End Chapter three:


	4. Chapter 4

_**Author Note: I just want to say thank you to you all for all your comments and feedback, I really appreciate it, do let me know how you continue to find it, happy reading guys ;) **_

Chapter Four:

Flashback:

Two years ago: A warehouse in New Orleans

Isabella Markus studied the three test subjects who were all strapped into metal chairs. Her father and professor entered the room.

'Isabella, have you made any progress?'

'Subject number 3 has shown the highest amount of telepathic accuracy.'

Professor Robert Markus cast a glance at subject number 3, 'Bishop's boy...' he raised an intrigued eyebrow, 'Ofcourse.'

Isabella glanced at Peter, a pang of guilt hit her when he met her gaze. His green eyes didn't even accuse her, they simply studied her, as if he was asking himself why he hadn't seen this coming.

Isabella had selected Peter as a target for her project, thanks to her father's help. But in order to get close to him, she wound up dating him, it was the only way she could win his trust. He was incredibly smart to say the least, and it set him apart from all the other men she had known. Not to mention he was the only man who wasn't smitten with her when they were dating.

'Have him transported to the research holding cells in the Lake Hollow District.'

Isabella turned to her father, 'I thought you said the last subjects we transferred there died?'

'It was unsuccessful, not all of them were capable of handling the extreme conditions they were placed in for long periods of time. However Bishop's high results suggest he is capable of handling them.'

'But you don't know that for certain.' She said, doing her best to hide any non-professional feelings she had developed for Walter's son along the way.

'Isabella, trust me. Can you imagine how invaluable he'd be to the world if we successfully unlocked his abilities...? Do you know how rare it is to find someone with such accurate readings?? Or have you forgotten how hard your mother and I worked on this project?'

Isabella turned back to peter, he simply looked away, an unsettling sensation began to brew in the pit of her stomach.

'I think we should test some other subjects first...see if they survive it.'

'We have already lost so much time, I for one am tired of waiting for the next individual who is as gifted as Bishop's son to be found. He's our subject Isabella, we can finally unlock the mind pathways between two separate minds...imagine the good that can come of it? Imagine the power and control you'd have over situations if you knew what was going to happen-'

'He can't predict the future yet-it's too risky, his brain could get fried.'

'Isabella, think rationally. I will not pass up this opportunity.' He said firmly, 'I have spent my life studying the possibilities of what could happen if we found someone like test-subject number 3.'

'His name is Peter.'

'If Walter hadn't carried out those experiments on Peter as a child, this probably wouldn't have happened, do you truly think it's coincidence that Walter and I wound up working together? Out of all the psychologists in the world, our employers selected us to work together? Only to discover the research he had covertly been carrying out on his own son?'

'You're not listening to me-it could KILL him!'

'It could make him invaluable!'

Isabella shook her head, 'No.' There was no way in hell she would let her father sabotage their project by putting Peter in a sensory deprivation chamber for long periods of time, it could drive Peter insane-it could even kill him. It was just too risky. The possibilities of it completely unlocking the regions of Peter's brain that hadn't been properly developed or adapted to be used, could easily fry his brain under the experiment conditions. She refused to take part in murder.

End Flashback:

Present day: Research facility in Boston:

Peter slowly came to his senses, he was tied to a chair and blindfolded. His forehead stung, he assumed he had some kind of a wound.

He listened intently to the surroundings, water poured into what sounded like a drain, then he heard footsteps. Turning his head quickly to the direction of the footsteps, his neck strained against the chair.

'Where am I!?' He demanded.

'How nice of you to join me for breakfast Subject Number 3.'

On recognising the deep voice, a chill ran along Peter's spine.

'Now, you must forgive me for the thuggish style in which my men apprehended you.' The man said, Peter tensed himself as he became aware of how close the man was standing to him.

'Why have you blindfolded me??' Peter asked, trying not to sound alarmed, 'I know it's you.'

'Its part of the research...It's taken me a while to track you down.' Robert Markus said as Peter heard him bite into something.

'Would you like an apple?' He asked Peter.

Peter grunted with effort as he tried to break the bonds that tied him to the chair so tightly.

Robert sighed, calmly, he pulled out an injection and jabbed it into Peter's neck.

'Urgh!' Peter yelled, 'you son of a bitch!'

Peter felt his head feel heavy, 'what's h...happening to me...?' he mumbled weakly as his head fell limp. He felt a sensation of numbness spreading throughout his body, his mind was alert but he couldn't lift a finger. He yelled-but the words didn't come out. He could hear himself in his mind, but his ears met a cold chuckle from Markus.

'Don't panic, I've merely sedated your limbs and your body. Your brain is perfectly active, The first stage of the experiment. I will now attach sensors to your temples and your parietal lobe,' he said, touching the top of Peter's head. 'To allow me to monitor which areas your nervous system substitutes for the lack of vision. If the initial research your father did you on you was correct, combined with my findings, your brain shall at some point begin to emit an exceptional amount of electrical impulses. Not strong enough to fry your brain, don't worry...' He then chuckled for an instant, 'The impulses will simply intensify your magnetic field.' Peter felt a cold piece of metal pressed against his temples.

'You see, Peter...because your capacity was unlocked at a young age by your father, its there...waiting to be used. And that's what I'm here for. To make use of it. Hold still...' he said, knowing full well Peter couldn't move even if he wanted to. 'I won't lie to you. It won't be easy.'

Robert turned on the generator, sending electrical currents steadily through Peter's temples, _What the hell is wrong with you?!_ Peter screamed in his mind at the professor.

Laboratory:

Walter sat in silence as Olivia paced. Astrid pressed a bandage on his cheek, he had cut himself when he fell down the stairs earlier that morning.

'Agent Dunhem, can I get you some coffee?' Astrid asked, she was worried about her superior, but didn't know how to tell her that. Olivia hadn't rested since Astrid had entered the lab, and from what she heard Walter say, Olivia had been like this all morning. Restless.

'Walter...' Olivia said, 'When you said 'they'...who did you mean?'

'Them.' Walter replied casually.

Olivia took in a deep breath, losing her temper would be easy, she needed to stay in control. Her mind dared not wonder what they were doing to Peter.

Astrid shifted uncomfortably, she considered showing Peter's file to Olivia, the one Walter had re-written, but didn't know if it had anything to do with what had happened to him.

'They've taken my son!' Astrid and Olivia looked at Walter who was suddenly upset and anxious, as though the reality of the event had just sunk in.

'I'll find him Walter. It's okay...'

'No, no! You don't understand-He knows!' Walter exclaimed whilst gesticulating his hands wildly.

'Who knows??' Olivia asked, forcing eye contact with Walter.

'Walter. WHO KNOWS??' she demanded loudly as she held his shoulders.

Walter shook his head, 'Peter's special...he's-he's special...You can't know. They can't know!'

Olivia turned to Astrid, 'I found a file Walter had written...I think you should read it.'

Olivia stared at her for a long pause, 'why didn't you tell me earlier?'

'I didn't think it was relevant.'

'Next time Walter does something like write a file from memory? It's very relevant.' She said bluntly, Astrid nodded as she handed the file to Olivia.

Walter watched the blonde as she leafed through a file, 'Why aren't you helping him?' He prompted.

'Agent Dunhem-I think you should listen to Walter...' Astrid said, noticing Walter's behaviour become aggressive.

Olivia was reading the file too intently to pay notice to Walter until he slammed his fist on the table, 'Help Peter! Or I'll have myself incarcerated!'

Olivia climbed to her feet and stormed over to him, she stared down at him, 'what the HELL is this?!' She demanded, tossing the open file infront of Walter. 'You experimented on your OWN son!?'

Walter looked panicked as he tried to gather all the pieces of paper back together, 'No, no, no...don't-don't-lose them. Peter will never forgive me-he won't.' He mumbled erratically.

'Peter doesn't know?' Olivia asked, she didn't think she could be as disgusted as she was at that moment. She felt an unexplained possessiveness of Peter at that point. How could a father do that to his own son? How could he do it to someone as great as Peter...

Olivia shook her head at Walter.

'Olivia...' Walter whispered now, 'Robbie's taken him...Izzie knows.'

'Wait-who? Robbie? Would that be Robert???'

Walter nodded, 'who else?!' he exclaimed, as though Olivia should be familiar with the two names.

She turned to Astrid, who was already searching the psychology database.

'I worked with Robbie, Robbie Markus, his daughter Isabella...beautiful girl, she was. In love with Peter.' He said with a nostalgic smile, Olivia straightened as she watched Walter.

_Isabella Markus, an old girlfriend...? _She wondered, 'Astrid...Markus, look them up.'

'I'm on it Agent Dunhem.'

'Robbie found my file...' Walter said as he clutched Peter's file closely to his chest. 'He found my file and took my boy...' Tears filled his eyes, 'Find my son. Find him.'

From he state he was in, Olivia decided it was better to leave Walter alone.

'I need the file Walter. I need everything you have on Peter.'

'I-I received these from Br-Broyles when I enquired as to the whereabouts my son had been for the past few years.' Walter said as he walked over to the filing cabinet, he pulled out a large pile of papers, setting them down in front of Olivia, he proudly said, 'He's been busy.'

Olivia raised an exhausted eyebrow at the pile of paper.

Research Laboratory:

Peter writhed in panic, he had been in the dark for 14 hours now. As a child, he had suffered from night terrors, logically darkness was not his most favourite place.

He let his thoughts drift him in and out of reality, he thought of Walter, and his childhood, he thought of the laughter, the tears, his mother, his father...the beatings. He quickly changed route and began to imagine a more recent memory. Seeing a man as strong as his father, in such a messed up state disturbed him greatly, it even tugged at his heart strings, the same heart he swore never to care for his father again with. Seeing him at the asylum that day with Olivia had left him somewhat torn and confused. He hated loving his father, he simply hated it. He couldn't deny that on some level, he enjoyed caring for him. But every now and then, a memory would linger on his mind, and he'd forget how to feel around Walter.

He hoped Olivia was okay. When the men had knocked him out, he remember her voice calling his name, he even remembered the desperation his mind was in to reply. But he was unable to move, they had stunned him.

The image of a man flashed before his eyes. He wouldn't have recognised Agent Scott if it wasn't for the strong jawline and small eyes that remained unaffected despite his infection before he died.

'Peter...' he whispered, then vanished, Peter jolted upright, he flinched, trying to feel himself, but he couldn't feel anything. He could only hear his heart thumping in his chest.

A door swung open and a pair of footsteps approached Peter, 'Bishop...You have 6 more hours of darkness. Then I will now escort you to a room where you will not eat for 48hours. I'm sure you understand why, if I don't put you in these sensory deprivation situations, your brain will not act out of desperation to activate all functioning areas in your brain and subconscious. Including the areas I need to unlock. Then you will be immersed into a tub of ice. Similar to the experiment involving the tank and synchronising brainwaves. This will lower your body temperature to a point where you're barely alive.'

_I'm gonna die. Shit. Shit. Not like this...I can't die yet. I have to stay strong. Walter needs me. Olivia... _amongst the panic arises a pause, _why am I thinking of Olivia?? _

That night:

Olivia finally put down Peter's file, she had read it over and over again. There was so much pain in his past that he had never told her of, he had kept so much from her about who he was. She knew Walter was abusive, but she had no idea Peter was admitted to the hospital several times as a child when defending his mother from Walter's outbursts. She couldn't bring herself to imagine the brave yet terrified child that Peter would have been. It spoke volumes to her about who she was. Even though they were from two completely different worlds, they were so similar. She would find Peter, She simply had to, she owed it to him and to Walter.

She stared at Walter's version of Peter's file, unlike the FBI's version, it contained details of shocks and other treatments Walter had given Peter. The only consistency between the FBI files and Walter's was that Peter couldn't remember much from before he was 10. And Olivia had a horrible feeling that it had alot to do with Walter experimenting on the young boy.

She stared at the countless numbers of women he had been reported being seen with in the FBI files, with none of which was it recorded that he had actually pursued a relationship. The only woman in his files he had pursued a relationship with was Isabella Markus. She needed to find Isabella.

The sound of her phone ringing made her jump, she hadn't slept in over a night, she just couldn't. She knew if she slept, she risked seeing John, and the last thing she needed was to lose her mind during her search for Peter.

There was no way she could calmly drift off to sleep. Not with Peter missing, who knew what they were doing to him. She flipped open her cellphone.

'Agent Dunhem.' She said, her husky voice revealing how tired she was.

'I've got a location on Robert Markus...'

'I need one for Isabella first, I can't barge in there without some more information on who Markus is and how he operates. It's too risky, I can't lose Peter-'

_Did I really just say that??_

'WE can't lose Peter,' she corrected herself over the phone to Astrid.

'Agent Dunhem, can I give you some advice?'

Her silence prompted Astrid to continue.

'Get some rest. Your no good to Peter...or the investigation,' Astrid added, knowing Olivia would be defensive of that topic, 'if you're exhausted.'

'You're right. But I can't sleep, not until we find him.'

' But Agent Dunhem-'

'He would do the same for any of us...'

'Would he...?' Astrid asked rhetorically.

Olivia didn't answer, she believed he would do the same for her. And she wasn't in the mood to defend herself or her thoughts. Not tonight.

'Let me know when you find more on Isabella Markus.'

'Okay Agent Dunhem.'

'And Astrid? The moment you find something-Ring me.'

Astrid sighed over the phone, 'Yes Agent Dunhem.'

She hung up.

Satisfied Astrid would contact her the instant she found anything, Olivia set the phone down on her desk, she put her elbows on top of Peter's file, as she leant on the desk, she closed her eyes and rested her head.

_I'll just rest my eyes for a minute..._

'_Research Facility Boston..._' a pair of lips grazed her ear, Olivia replied as she leaned in to his touch, 'John...' on realising what she just said, she jolted awake. What the hell just happened??

She quickly wrote down what John had said, 'Research facility Boston.' She stared at it, why was John helping her? She turned to the engagement ring in the navy box that sat on her desk, reminding her of what yesterday could have been, had he not died. Her heat pounded in her chest, why did she feel so guilty about working so hard to find Peter all of a sudden?? She closed her eyes and ran her hands over her face.

_Keep it together. Keep it together. _She ordered herself, _He's not really here...you're just losing your mind_.

She shook her head as she climbed to her feet. Walking into the bathroom, she came to a halt infront of the mirrored cabinet on the wall. She took a moment to stare at herself, her eyes searching her expression, hoping she'd find a clue to what she was thinking and feeling. Taking in a deep breath, she opened the cold tap, and dabbed her face with cool water. Her eyes closed, she reached for a towel, pressing it against her face, she lowered the towel.

Her eyes stared at the mirror, only it wasn't her own reflection that stared back at her sadly, it was John's.

'Don't lose me Olivia...' he said softly, Olivia frowned at him as tears stung her eyes.

'I didn't. You lost me.' she said, her voice catching in her throat.

On seeing him in the mirror, the anger and betrayal she felt did their best to escape her, but it was no use. Olivia read his expression clearly, she knew exactly what he was realising; he had lost her, her heart was no longer his. With one last lingering look, John dissolved into thin air.

Olivia stared at her familiar reflection. A wave of relief washed over her. Was he really gone?

End chapter four:


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter five:

Isabella stared at the stunning blonde that stood in her doorway, 'Please. If you could give me twenty minutes of your time, I'd appreciate it...'

'What's this about?' She asked shortly, it was 7am on a Sunday. She didn't appreciate losing sleep.

'Peter Bishop.' Something changed in the brunette on hearing his name. Olivia watched as her cool demeanour softened to something much more gentle.

'Did Robert find him?' She asked the FBI agent.

The concern for Peter in Isabella's voice made Olivia shift uncomfortably, 'Yeah...do you have any idea what he's going to do with Peter or where he's keeping him?'

'How do you know Peter...?' the woman asked.

'We work together.'

Isabella studied her carefully, Olivia felt as though she was being read under the woman's inspective gaze.

'Peter has a way of becoming more than just colleagues when he works with women...'

'I don't doubt that.' Olivia said politely, _who did this woman think she was?_

'I just need your help...'

'Need? Are you lying to me about the proximity in which you and Peter work together?'

Olivia scoffed, _Give me a break woman._

'I'm not here to discuss Peter and I. We're just colleagues. That's all.'

Olivia suddenly realised what the woman's problem was, she wanted to know if she should be jealous of Peter and Olivia.

'Please help me...' she asked sincerely, letting the desperation in her voice reach Isabella's ears.

'Boston only has one Research Facility that contains the equipment my father would need to perform his work on Peter.'

'His work?'

'Walter Bishop's findings on extrasensory abilities enabled my father to create his own theories on the topic. Peter is special Olivia...His ability to read people is above average, the speed with which he can process data is impressive. We needed someone smart as well as observant for our experiment.'

'Our?' Olivia asked.

'It was ours, until I thought my father was being too risky. He planned on pushing Peter until he got results.'

'So what happened?'

'I broke Peter out, he escaped. He never forgave me-but he escaped.' She said with a bittersweet smile, 'My father and I are no longer on talking terms.' Isabella waked over to a drawer and rifled through it's contents.

'I suggest you find him sooner than later-here,' she said, turning to face Olivia, she handed the FBI agent her card. 'this pass will let you into the laboratory without any trouble from security. If they ask any questions, say your with Massive Dynamics.'

Olivia stared at her, if Massive Dynamics or the FBI discovered Peter's abilities, they'd take him in and test him like a lab-rat.

'How long ago was Peter taken?'

'46hours ago...'

'Then you should hurry before he's put in the tank.'

Olivia looked at her, prompting her to explain further.

'Out of all of his subjects, Peter's the only one that's still alive. None of them survived the tank. Robert kept lowering their heart rate to a point where the brain would panic and release a surplus amount of electromagnetic impulses-but the point at which that occurs is simply too close to death.'

Olivia felt her heart thump in her chest, 'what if we're too late?'

'I hope you got to say goodbye.' Isabella said, Olivia climbed to her feet.

'I'll save him before that...' She said simply.

'Oh, Agent Dunhem?'

Olivia glanced at Isabella, who smiled softly, 'when you save him, tell him I send my love.'

Olivia studied her, turning on her heel, she walked out of the house.

FBI Building:

'Agent Dunhem-listen to yourself-' Broyles said firmly, 'you want to be sent in ALONE. That means WITHOUT backup.'

'I know what it means.' Olivia said, she also knew that Broyles discovered Peter's apparent abilities, he would lock Peter away.

'Is there something you're not telling me Agent Dunhem?'

'No sir.' Olivia said, staring him straight in the eyes.

'Is that all?' Broyles asked, Olivia nodded, she turned and headed for the door.

'Agent Dunhem.' He said calmly as he pulled open a draw, 'This gun isn't registered.' He handed it her, 'In case anything happens.'

'Thank you.' She said sincerely, it felt good to have someone covering her back.

Broyles watched her go, pondering on whether trusting her was a wise decision.

Peter shivered violently as his body was thrust into a tub of ice-cold water, all the pain from the past few days of torture came to the surface, he could finally hear his own screams. The feeling of his slacks against his cold, near frozen skin shook his whole body violently. He could feel his systems shutting down. He blinked rapidly, he was still blindfolded and couldn't see a thing.

'Calm down Peter. Relax.'

'SCREW YOU!'

Peter yelled angrily, he immediately groaned in agony, his head throbbed and his throat was dry. His muscles ached at the burning cold.

'Calm DOWN. I'd rather not sedate you. Just relax...'

Peter realised quickly that he had no choice but to do as Robert wished. He tried to control his rapid breathing, slowing it down to lower his heartbeat. He closed his eyes, and breathed slowly, he could hear his heart slowing down by the second. A freezing numbness overtook his body as he ached for warmth.

Sensors attached to his temporal lobes and parietal lobe, Peter lay deathly still in the cold water. Letting his mind fall into a state of exhaustion and defeat.

The jolt of an electric current made Peter shake rapidly in the tank.

'Phase 3...I'm monitoring your beta waves...' Robert's voice said.

The entrance of the research facility:

Olivia entered the facility, she rang Astrid, 'I need you to bring Walter...Isabella said something about a tank.'

'Okay, we're on our way.'

She hung up and scouted the surroundings, research scientists worked casually, unaffected by her presence. They assumed that if she had gotten past the gates, she was allowed to be inside.

Olivia headed straight down the hallway, her instincts driving her. Without knowing, she knew exactly where he was in the building.

Olivia descended the stairs, her heart pounding in her chest.

Walter and Astrid pulled up outside the building.

'This is Robert's place? He did well...' Walter said observantly to Astrid, he seemed to have forgotten momentarily that Robert Markus had his son.

Peter stared at the maroon sky above him, he turned on his heel as he saw several items that he didn't know he remembered. A toy car, a child laughing, a large shadow standing over a crying child. He turned around again to see a kayak.

_What the hell...? _Peter thought to himself.

'Peter...' Agent Scott appeared behind him, Peter turned around again.

'Where are we?'

'In your mind...'

'What are you doing here?'

'Watching...'

Peter frowned as he approached Agent Scott, Agent Scott turned to his left and stared at a blurry image, as Peter focused on the image it became clear. He and Agent Scott were staring at Olivia and Peter smiling, then Peter watching Olivia walk to her car.

Peter noticed the surroundings feel warm, safe, content for a moment, until Olivia's image vanished.

'PETER!' a man roared, Peter and John looked ahead of them to see a man standing over a cowering mother and child.

'Get OUT of my way boy!' An infuriated Walter yelled at him.

'NO! Leave her alone!' Peter yelled bravely, only to be slapped by his father.

'Leave her alone...' Peter whispered in the tank, he began to feel tired.

Robert glanced at the monitor, 'NO...NO...' Peter's body was failing. 'You were meant to be SPECIAL!' he yelled angrily at the tank. His last subject was dying on him.

Olivia burst through the doors, 'BACK OFF!' she yelled, Robert backed away from the tank, Olivia had a look of determination in her eyes as she pointed the gun at him.

'Wait...he's dying...' Robert said, 'he wasn't meant to die! He was perfect for the trial!'

'Open the tank!' She ordered, Peter wasn't dying. Not on her watch.

'OPEN IT!' she ordered him, Robert opened the tank, revealing a deathly pale Peter.

Tears filled her eyes, 'Peter!?' She ran to his side, he didn't respond.

'Peter...!' Olivia's voice beckoned him in his mind, he turned around, seeing her reaching out to him, touching his face so tenderly, and for an instant, Peter could feel her warmth on his cheek. John watched as she worried over Peter. Peter frowned as she and John rippled and vanished. The world he was in began to darken, the maroon sky's warmth began cooling rapidly, he squinted in the dark.

'NO!...WHAT'S HAPPENING!?' Yelled, terrified and confused. A stab of pain arose from his heart, it was as though he was suffocating, but he was breathing in his imagination. He clutched his chest and closed his eyes, he buckled to his knees.

'AAARgh!'

In the facility: Olivia turned around, grabbing Robert by the collar, she slammed him into a piece of machinery and hand cuffed him to a pipe. He wasn't going anywhere.

She ran to the tank, ready to pull Peter out of the freezing water-

'WAIT-!' Walter's voice bellowed, 'don't touch him, if you pull him out now-he'll die!' the scientist explained, 'we need a defibrillator.'

'It'll electrocute him-'

'No-not a physical one, a psychological one-we need to get into his subconscious and give his heart a beat to follow, so he thinks its his own, then his heart will automatically beat to the provided beat, effectively acting as a biological defibrillator...his heart needs a cue to follow-I'll go in to the fellow tank-'

He said as he nodded at the empty tank besides Peter's.

'No. You're too valuable. I'll do it.' Olivia said, she turned to Astrid, 'what do we need?'

'We've got everything,' Astrid said.

'Brilliant.' Walter said enthusiastically, 'let's save a life shall we?' The scientist had a passion in his eyes that randomly arose during his experiments.

Olivia began unbuttoning her shirt, Astrid turned to Olivia, 'I'll take Markus.' She said, uncuffing him from the pipe and leading him out of the room.

Walter turned on the second monitor, whilst his eyes read the readings on the first monitor.

'The subject's heart beat has nearly come to a stop...you have to let it stop completely before stimulating it again...'

Nodding to the instructions, Olivia cautiously lowered herself into the tub, shivering as the cold pain spread through her limbs. She knew how much Peter would hate that she risked her life again for him, but she had to do it. She didn't know if she was ready to see his world, but time wasn't something she had. Walter placed the sensors on her head, she closed her eyes, letting her body calm down and be still within the water.

Monitor One flat-lined just as Olivia awoke within another reality.

Her world and what she could only assume was Peter's, seemed entwined, her navy skies were merged amongst his darkened maroon sky, her uncle's Kayak hovered in mid air, she saw young Olivia giggling with her mother. She turned around to see a boy being beaten, she looked away against her will, she knew these were Peter's memories. Peter lay on the ground, scarily still. His green eyes fluttering shut. Olivia ran to his side, 'Peter!'

'Olivia...' she heard him say her name, but didn't see his lips move.

'Don't let me die,' his whispers echoed in the world around her. She stared at his still body as a new fear moved through her, tears fell from her eyes.

'I have to let you die so I can save you,' she said firmly as she cupped his face, 'Peter...?'

He was dying in her arms, she could feel his cold skin against hers, her heart felt as though it was tearing in two as she watched in shock. Words failed to describe what she felt at that moment. The idea of losing a man she didn't think she was that close too tore her apart. John Scott, the pattern, the engagement ring, none of it mattered, all that mattered was saving Peter. Who lay dying in her arms. She had no idea where the raw passion to save him had come from, nor did she care to understand.

'It's gonna be okay...'

John Scott watched Olivia, who didn't even sense his presence anymore. He smiled sadly, she had unknowingly moved on. She was no longer holding onto John, despite his loss, John felt a weight had been lifted from his shoulders as he gazed at the woman he was never meant to have. He stood over her and Peter, Peter could sense him, but was too weak to move. Olivia cupped Peter's face, forcing him to open his eyes, Peter's eyes opened, but they landed past her shoulder as he met John's stare.

'Peter...?' Olivia turned to see what Peter was looking at, but all she saw was an empty space, she turned back around to see Peter's head fall limp. He was dead, she almost felt sick as she stared down at him, dread flooded through her veins.

'Walter...! Now what do I do??!'

Walter walked over to the monitor, 'Stay calm, just stay calm...'

'His body's so cold...' she murmured from the tank.

Walter walked over to his son, 'just stay close to him. And in a few moments his mind should detect the presence of another electromagnetic field and synchronise. When his eyes open, you need to get out of there...He'll have a trace to follow back to the conscious world...'

Olivia nodded as she held Peter's limp body in her arms, 'stay with me, come on...' she urged, 'come on Peter...' her warmth began to spread through him.

Walter watched as Monitor One began to synchronise with Monitor two's electromagnetic pulse. He smiled slightly at the intensity of the pulls on the screen when the two combined, he cocked an eyebrow at it.

His son had a way with women afterall.

Peter jolted awake, his lungs burning for air as he breathed in deeply, 'Olivia??' his expression was confused, she had a look of relief on her face as tears streamed down her cheeks. She gave him a small smile, Peter noticed the way she began to dissolve into thin air.

'Olivia, wait!'

Olivia jolted awake in the tank, Walter handed her clothes to her, which she climbed into, 'Now we wait.' He said calmly as he ate an apple.

Olivia blinked at the apple for a moment, she decided not to comment as she refocused her attention on Peter, she stood besides the tank he was in, 'Here...' Walter handed her a towel for Peter.

'Thanks.' She said softly, her eyes never left Peter's.

Peter suddenly jolted upwards in the tank, spluttering, he wheezed deeply, letting cool air inflate his lungs, Olivia pulled of his blindfold, he immediately hugged her tightly. Olivia hugged him back, holding him close. He closed his eyes for a moment as he came to grips with what had happened over the past few days.

Astrid walked in to see Walter with a smile on his face, he was eating an apple and watching Peter and Olivia in an embrace.

Olivia suddenly became aware that they weren't alone, she pulled away, embarrassed by the surprisingly intimate reunion. Peter smiled at her, she returned the smile whilst handing him the towel.

'Welcome back.' She said, Peter gazed at her, he didn't care how uncomfortable she felt under his gaze, he had almost died and she had bought him back.

Olivia's cheeks reddened, 'What?'

Peter shook his head, 'I'm just glad to see you.' He said casually with a small smile.

'It's mutual.'

Walter approached Peter, the father's arms were wide open.

Peter climbed to his feet, not even making eye contact with him, he walked straight past Walter, leaving the elderly man disheartened.

'Peter...?' he said weakly, 'Son...?'

Peter clenched his jaw, 'don't call me son.' He said, glaring at Walter.

Olivia's heart sank in her chest, Peter hadn't seen how alarmed Walter had been when he discovered Peter had been taken, all Peter knew at that moment was that his father was the reason Markus was after him.

'But Peter-' Walter said gently.

Peter walked straight upto him, staring him down, 'I know why I don't remember much from before I was 10.'

Walter studied him.

'You experimented on me. You screwed with my head. Don't ever call me son.'

Peter said bitterly as he put the towel down, Olivia walked over to him.

'Peter...-' she said with a sigh, not letting her finish he quickly said, 'I wanna see Robert.'

Olivia nodded, he's in the hallway, handcuffed to a pipe.

Peter stormed into the hallway, Olivia ran after him.

Peter didn't care that he was freezing cold, he didn't care that his muscles throbbed, he just wanted to punch the bastard in the face.

Robert looked up at Peter, his eye slit up, 'you survived?'

Peter punched him in the face, hearing a satisfying crack.

'Arg! My nose!'

'PETER!' Olivia yelled at him, but he punched him again, this time in the stomach.

'Hey! That's enough!'

Peter seethed at Olivia, 'He almost killed me!'

'I know!' she yelled back at him, the tenderness in her tone made his expression soften, 'I know...' she said softly.

Peter held her gaze, Olivia handed him some papers.

'What are these?'

'Your files. Including Markus's additions.'

'You read them?'

Olivia nodded, Peter fell silent, she touched his arm.

'I'm sorry about your mother-'

'I don't need your sympathy.'

Olivia looked flustered for a moment, she regained her composure, _if he wants to act like I didn't see the way he was gazing at me back there, fine._

'Isabella sends her love.'

'Tell her to keep it.' Peter said dismissively, Olivia stared at him, _what just happened? Why did he have a problem with Olivia knowing about his past...?_

'Wait...' she said as he began to walk away, 'where are you going?'

'To get some dinner.'

'I'm coming too.'

'I don't need company.'

'I don't care.' She replied shortly.

Peter glanced at the stubborn woman who walked shoulder to shoulder with him.

'I don't know alot of places that serve guys without a shirt...' she hinted.

Peter smirked, 'I know a few.'

Olivia smiled as she shook her head.

End chapter five:


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six:

Later that night at Olivia's apartment:

Olivia sat besides Peter on the couch, he gave her an impressed look as he took a swig of water.

'You're a surprisingly good cook.' He said as he set the bottle of water down on the coffee table.

Olivia fought back an amused smile, 'Surprisingly?'

'Well you know...you don't exactly _seem_ like the cooking type...'

'I don't seem like the cooking type? I'll try not to be offended.' She said with a small laugh.

Peter's eyes landed on hers, 'No, it was nice...but why make me dinner? I wasn't exactly on my best behaviour today...'

'You also refused to stop at home and grab a shirt. So it kinda narrowed our eating options down to my place...unless you wanted to get some unwanted attention, which I doubt.'

'I just...I don't wanna see or have anything to do with Walter tonight, I've had a long and painful few days, and its all thanks to him.'

Olivia's heart sank in her chest, she understood how it felt to be betrayed by someone who was supposed to love you.

'I saw the memory of Walter beating you-'

'I don't wanna talk about it.' He said quickly, changing the subject, he nodded at the jumper he was wearing, 'But I would like to thank one of your ex's for this...' Olivia smiled as she looked away.

'It's just a jumper I bought for someone a while back...I didn't get round to giving it him.'

Peter frowned slightly, _if this belonged to John this is gonna get beyond awkward_.

It was as if she read his mind when she added, 'Don't worry, it wasn't John's.' She gave him a small smile, for the first time in weeks since his death, she didn't feel an ounce of guilt when saying his name.

She glanced at Peter, she found herself feeling exposed under his gaze and he was very aware of the effect he was having on her.

'So...you and Isabella?' She asked, knowingly turning the tables on him, she knew that he hated being in the spotlight as much as her.

'It was... what it was.' He said simply.

Olivia blinked, 'that's all I'm gonna get?' she asked playfully, her eyes never leaving his.

'We uh...it was more of a physical thing...than an actual...relationship...'

Olivia raised an eyebrow at him, a bemused grin spread over her lips.

'What?' Peter said defensively.

'Nothing...' she said, she had to admit, she didn't think Peter had it in him to be the hot and heavy type. He had always seemed more of a closet-romantic to her.

'Don't get me wrong. I'm not unromantic...it's just...when I find someone who's worth the romance...I'll be romantic then. I get by just fine without love and heartache.'

Olivia nodded, a glint in her eye. Peter studied her expression, she looked like she had just solved a puzzle.

'You're one of those guys...' she said, nodding gently.

'One of what guys?'

'You know...the whole 'I don't need love, I get by just fine, no harm, no foul'...The kind that you have a one night stand with and doesn't call back...'

Peter laughed, 'do you honestly think I'm_ that_ soul-less?'

'I don't know what to think when it comes to you...'

'Right back at ya...' he said with a smile.

Olivia glanced at the coffee table, something was eating at her and she had to say it.

'Isabella's still in love with you.'

Peter looked at her as she straightened, 'if it wasn't for her help-I wouldn't have gotten into the facility on time.'

'Like I said,' his voice was hoarse, 'It was what it was.'

Peter's cellphone rang, causing both of them become aware of how close they were sitting, Peter leaned over and picked it up, Olivia caught a glimpse of the screen. It was Walter. Peter pressed the red button without any thought, hanging up on his father.

Olivia knew it wasn't her place to tell Peter how to behave with his father, but after seeing how worried Walter had been about Peter...she felt like she needed to.

'He was so anxious to find you...'

'Ofcourse he was. I'm one of his research experiments remember??' he said bitterly.

'No, Peter... he fell down the stairs when trying to catchup with the men who took you...I rushed to his side to help him, but all he did was tell me to find you. He loves you enough not to care about himself.' She watched as Peter glanced at his cellphone, she knew her words had effected him, she just didn't know to what extent.

'Peter?'

'He beat me with a text book when I was 11 because I dropped it when he was working on an experiment and distracted him. He blamed me for his forgetful memory...he couldn't remember what the result was, so he picked up that text book...' Peter turned to face Olivia, 'and pretty much beat me till I was blue.' He nodded, a tenderness in his eyes.

Olivia stared at him, 'I'm sorry-'

'Don't apologise.' He said, 'People always apologise, but it doesn't change the fact that it happened.'

He climbed to his feet, Olivia followed his lead.

'where you goin?' She asked out of concern.

'I'm a big boy sweetheart, don't worry about me.' He winked at her with a melancholy smile, 'Oh and for the record...?' he said with a glint in his eyes, 'I'm not a one-night-stand kinda guy...' Olivia smiled slightly, secretly relieved she wasn't working with a womaniser. Peter headed out the door, leaving her standing alone in the apartment.

Olivia looked away from her door as it slammed shut, leaning her elbows on the table, she ran her hands over her face. There was something about endearing about Peter, that drew her to him, but he was too reluctant to let anyone get close to him. Just like she was, and she appreciated that, not ever wanting to go down that road with a colleague again. She had learnt her lesson two times over.

She wondered where he was going, maybe he went to see Isabella, or Walter...? Her mind drifted to the time she had shared the memory of her stepfather with him, he had listened so graciously, and now she had returned the favour. She wondered whether the friendship between her and Peter was only a friendship... Olivia took in a deep breath and gathered herself,_ I gotta get outta my head._ She thought, tonight she was giving up trying to understand herself and heading straight to bed.

A car honked at Peter as he nearly walked infront of it as it sped down the road, _I gotta get outta my head...! _He told himself as he stepped back onto the pavement, too many issues had been bought to the surface, issues about his childhood, about his past love, about why he could only think of Olivia when he thought he was about to die, he would have loved to have stayed at hers alittle longer, but he couldn't sit so close to her without certain feelings buried at the bottom of his heart trying to resurface..._This is ridiculous, I'm not falling for Olivia...I need to get a grip._

He let out a sigh as he remembered how much she had learnt about him. It left him feeling uneasy around her. She knew things he had never told anyone. Somehow, by simply making eyecontact with him, she could read him like an open book. The quality he both loved and hated about her.

He shook his head, _No, you're not falling for her, she's just the only person you can trust...that's all it is. Its a matter of trust._

And he was right to some extent, Olivia and Peter were eachother's only confidants, since they'd been thrown into the world of conspiracy theories, betrayal and general craziness. It was normal for his attachment to this woman grow. Perfectly normal.

_I need a drink...Old habits die hard. _He decided as he headed for the bar.

Olivia's apartment:

Olivia tossed and turned in bed, trying to put her mind to rest, she picked up her cell phone, in hopes that someone had contacted her, but it looked as bored as she felt, tossing it aside, she climbed out of bed and headed for the shower.

_I'm gonna shower and then head to the lab, see if there's another loophole in Langley's contract to get access to Rosenbaum..._she decided.

The bar:

Peter glanced at the bottled water he had ordered, his eyes drifted to the drunken people around him, they were all so intoxicated, so unaware of reality. He wished he could be one of them, but he wouldn't drink. He knew how dangerous he could be if he lost control.

'Sitting at the bar and ordering water? That's an odd combination...' a woman's voice teased.

Peter turned around, his eyes landed on a fiery red head, her soft brown eyes seemed to peer into his. She cast him a smile, 'I'm Rachel...'

Peter looked her up and down for a moment before shaking her hand, 'Peter.'

'Peter.' She said, as if she was tasting the name.

'Let me guess Rachel, you're drunk...'

'Not yet...' she said playfully.

'Can I change that for you?'

'That depends...will you be drinking too?'

'What kind of a man would I be if I didn't get myself drunk in the company of a beautiful woman?' He said gently.

Rachel smiled, enjoying the flirting, on getting her consent, Peter turned to the bartender, 'Hey, a drink for this beautiful woman?' he called as he ordered her a drink.

The bar tender approached Rachel, 'what can I get you miss?'

Peter felt Rachel's eyes on him as she ordered her vodka.

'Same for me...' Peter added, he touched her elbow, getting her attention, 'Want to make some quick money?'

She threw him an apprehensive look, but much to her relief, he nodded at the Poker table, 'How well can you deceive people?' he asked softly, Rachel found herself drawn to his charm.

'I've won my fair share of games...'

Peter's eyes drifted to the poker table as he broke into a smile.

'Wanna see a smart way to make alot of money?'

'That depends, are you a lucky guy?' Rachel asked curiously, Peter broke into a grin, an edge in his eyes.

'I am when I want to be.' He said, leading the way to the poker table.

The next morning at the lab:

Walter and Astrid entered the lab at 10am, Astrid paused as she saw Agent Dunhem asleep at the desk.

She turned off the lights, it was broad daylight now, lights weren't needed.

'Agent Dunhem?'

Olivia stirred in her sleep.

'If you're here...then where's Peter?' Astrid asked, doing her best not to sound curious.

Olivia frowned at her, 'why would me being here effect Peter's location?'

Astrid had to bite her tongue in order to stop herself from saying what she thought.

But it was no use, Olivia read her like an open book.

'Peter and I did not spend the night together...' she said with indignation. Astrid winced, that probably wasn't the best note to start the day with. Olivia stifled a yawn and ran her hands over her face as she glanced at the clock on the wall.

'I couldn't sleep, so I came over here,' she explained, 'I did some groundwork on Rosenbaum's deal with Langley.'

'Find anything new?'

'No...' she turned to her apprentice, 'you've done a brilliant job on writing up the leads Astrid.'

'Thanks,' Astrid said, the elation she felt was short lived thanks to Walter's addition to the compliment.

'She can do better.' The genius said casually, Olivia smiled apologetically at Astrid. Then she paused as she realised something, 'wait...why did you bring Walter? Where's Peter?'

'Pete didn't come home last night,' Walter said with a sad expression, 'I slept in the closet...'

Astrid tried not to smile, 'I was kinda worried when I got there...but found him eventually.'

'I rang Astrix...'

'Astr_id_,' Olivia corrected.

-'To collect me.' he finished.

'He rang from the closet.' Astrid said, doing her best to hide her amusement.

'Atleast I keep you on your toes...' he said with a grin.

Olivia didn't care to take part in the smalltalk, she was a woman of a few words unless it was work related. Besides, she couldn't help but feel annoyed at Astrid's assumption about her and Peter.

'Where's Peter?'

Astrid shrugged, Walter looked Olivia up and down, 'I assumed he was with you.'

Olivia frowned, her arms were now folded infront of her defensively, 'What made you think that?'

'You remember the 'If-then' formula don't you?' He asked, not really waiting for an answer, '...If you observed the behaviour both of you exhibited towards eachother on being reunited by the tank, then you too would assume that when alone...' he turned to his experiment, 'then Nature would take it's course-'

Olivia heard Astrid splutter as she drank her coffee, Olivia shot her a glare making Astrid gulp as she fought the urge to let her mouth hang open.

'That's not ...' Olivia searched for words, 'That's not-what Peter and I are...we're _just _colleagues.' She said firmly, not caring how defensive she sounded.

'Based on my observations, you're at the least, friends...at the least.' He mumbled more to himself than to Olivia.

Olivia dialled Peter's number, it rang three times and then she got the answer phone.

Walter and Astrid both blinked at her expectantly as she frowned, 'he hung up on me...' she said, her voice low, she wondered why she felt so out of place as she stared at her phone.

It wasn't like Peter to hang up on her. Maybe Walter, even Astrid, but he never hung up on _her_.

Moments later Peter clambered into the lab, 'Morning...' he said gruffly.

Olivia studied him, he looked exhausted, and it was safe to say he was probably hung over.

'Have you been drinking?' Olivia asked Peter firmly, the question seemed to grab Walter's attention.

'You shouldn't...' he paused mid-sentence as he lost the word and found it again, 'Drink. Peter. No.'

Peter frowned at Walter and Olivia, 'I'm here aren't I? Let's solve this case and go home, how does that sound to everyone?'

Astrid cast a glance at Olivia to see how she was handling Peter's bitter attitude.

'Shall I get you some water and aspirin?'Astrid offered him.

Olivia turned to Astrid, 'No, Agent Farnsworth, that's not your job.' She felt Peter's glare on her, she stubbornly returned it. If he thought he could stroll in half hung-over and half drunk, he could forget about it.

'You have a history of drink-drinking problems son...'

Olivia was glad Walter was present, it meant there was someone else who knew about Peter's past. Peter ignored Walter and turned to Olivia, 'can I talk to you outside for a second?'

Olivia glanced at the other two observant minds in the room, she folded her arms, 'whatever you wanna say, you can say it infront of our team.'

Peter glanced at Walter and Astrid, he turned back to Olivia, studying her carefully. Olivia was serious, she wasn't about to budge.

'Alright. How is it that my mentally unstable father-'

'I prefer the term 'mentally distinguished'-' Walter chimed in.

'How is that my 'mentally distinguished' father has access to my files??' He demanded.

'He requested them-' she said with a shrug.

'Why did you say yes?'

'Why would I say No?' Olivia replied. Walter was an important asset, not fulfilling his wishes wasn't wise. But from the look on Peter's face, Olivia didn't think he'd buy that explanation.

Peter scoffed out of exasperation, taking his silence as defeat Olivia put her foot down, letting everyone know who was in charge.

'And if you wake up one morning hung over? Don't bother coming in.'

This seemed to push Peter over the edge as he turned on his heel and stormed straight upto her. Walter and Astrid observed silently, not knowing what to do or where to look.

Olivia stared up into his eyes, a look of defiance on her face.

'What?' she asked shortly.

'What I do in _my_ time is none of your business.'

'Then don't bring it to work with you.' Peter scoffed incredulously, she was giving him advice on how to be professional??

'Right-because the fact that you were sleeping with your partner was totally professional...' He retorted, waiting for her to rise to the bait, but she didn't.

Peter clenched his jaw as he studied her, he wanted to know why she was being so edgy, he held her stare, he wouldn't be the one to look away. Not today.

_Is he actually challenging me??_ Olivia pondered as she refused to break eyecontact with him.

'Uhm Peter? Olivia?'

The angst ridden pair turned to Astrid who nodded at Walter whom was currently writing rapidly on a piece of paper.

A nod from Olivia let Peter know they'd continue this later, both of them jogged over to Walter's side.

'I've perfected it-the formula for the combustion of a human being-however it is not as spontaneous as we initially thought so-'

'What are we gonna do with the formula?' Peter asked Olivia. 'Are you planning on giving Rosenbaum a taste of his own medicine?' he quipped.

Olivia's silence answered his question.

'Wait-you're not serious-please_ tell_ me you're not serious...'

Off Olivia's stare, Peter turned to Walter.

End chapter six:


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven:

Peter shifted uncomfortably as Olivia and Walter stood over Rosenbaum, whom six hours earlier, Olivia and her extraction team had kidnapped and was now strapped to a chair as Walter poured a mixture of liquid into a glass beaker.

Olivia walked over to Rosenbaum, 'I wish I didn't have to do it this way. But we need a confession from you.'

Rosenbaum grunted, his mouth gagged, he threw a burning glare in Olivia's direction.

'Scowl all you want. I know what you did to all those people...and I wanna hear you admit it. Even if it means giving you a taste of your own medicine.'

Rosenbaum's eyes widened, he began shaking his head, pleading with his eyes alone.

'Walter... Are you ready?'

Walter smiled as he tapped the injection. 'Always...'

Olivia walked over to Peter, who stood apart from Walter and Rosenbaum, his arms were folded. Olivia knew he disproved of her method, but in her line of work, sometimes this was the only way.

'I know you don't like this technique of extracting information.'

'What I think doesn't _actually_ matter.' Peter shot back, he had been real with her long enough, he needed to put space between the two of them, and if that meant letting her think her was an asshole, so be it.

Olivia simply didn't know what to say, his opinion did matter to her, but that didn't mean his was the only one that counted when solving cases. Peter watched Walter inject Rosenbaum with the compound, he felt Olivia's eyes on him but didn't give her the satisfaction of glancing in her direction. After giving him one last look, Olivia turned and watched Rosenbaum as he began to sweat.

Walter removed the gag to place a thermometer in Rosenbaum's mouth.

'Don't do this-! You don't understand-I _didn't want_ to do those experiments-'

'Hold STILL.' Walter said firmly. _Is it just me, or do subjects just not know how to behave when one is experimenting on them?! The slightest variable could be altered by a simple action, leading to lethal consequences...honestly, some humans are so ignorant sometimes._

Watching Rosenbaum get tortured bought back a few painful memories of Peter's own. Memories that took him back to his days of gambling excessively, and then paying the price when he had no money to offer. The mere thought of being strapped to a chair was enough to spook him.

'I'll be outside, give me a call when you've got what you need.'

Olivia nodded at him, his pale complexion worried her, but she didn't feel comfortable with caring. Not when it came to Peter. Whenever they'd hold eachother's gaze, it always felt as though it was for a moment too long, and yet a moment too short. There was something between them that she had pushed aside whenever they worked on cases together. It was the same thing that made her worry about him so often, she glanced at him as he walked out of the room. Peter however, had made it very clear that worrying about him wasn't her place. And yet, she still did.

'Hmmm...that's wonderful. Rapidly spreading...' Walter's odd words got her attention.

'What is?'

'Oh, hello Olivia...his temperature...its risen profusely...much quicker than I expected it to...'

Rosenbaum spluttered, sending the thermometer to the ground, his breathing was shallow now, his pupils constricted then dilated.

'Increased levels of aggression under stress, pupil dilation-linked to vasodilation...' Walter notated besides Rosenbaum.

Olivia studied him, 'Give me the confession Rosenbaum, or I'll let you explode, killing us all.'

Rosenbaum studied the determination in her eyes, she was unrelenting, he felt as though his insides were on fire now.

'You don't understand-They'll kill me-they'll-' he said breathlessly, straining to get oxygen to his lungs.

'Do you really think I won't??' Olivia threatened, doing her best not to show the concern she had over his increasingly unstable condition. She was bluffing, but he didn't need to know that. Nor did he need to know that she secretly hoped Walter had used the right amount of mixture, so not to kill Rosenbaum. She may have been committed to her work, but she was no murderer.

Walter approached Rosenbaum with another thermometer, 'Uhm, Olivia...?' He said sheepishly.

The look on his face filled her with dread, something was wrong.

'What is it? What's wrong??'

'The-the- my memory isn't what it used to be you see- now that I looked over my formula and compared it to the symptoms he's exhibiting-there's something amiss....' he touched his forehead as he thought.

'Wait what do you mean?' Olivia prompted. _Please tell me you didn't put in the wrong amount Walter...I was counting on you! If he explodes we have to answer to Broyles AND the CIA!_

'Too hot._' _Walter said simply.

She dreaded to think what Broyles would do if he found out Rosenbaum died during investigation.

Rosenbaum suddenly began to yell in agony, 'Walter-What's happening to him?! What do you mean by '_too hot_'?'

'Olivia, we should leave this room-' he grabbed her wrist.

'Get off've me!' she yelled at him-

'Olivia-now-we must go! RIGHT NOW!' he yelled, a furious look in his eye.

'Wh-!?'

The sound of an explosion followed by the sound of splatter made them both duck, Walter held the young agent close as he peered in horror as to what had just happened.

'Oh.' Walter said, distress spreading over him, 'oh no...no-no-no-no!' He yelled, almost in tears, 'NO-I calculated it! I calculated everything correctly-'

Peter burst into the room, 'What the hell just happened?!' he demanded, on seeing Olivia climbing to her feet, he ran over to her, 'are you okay?'

Olivia was too stunned to speak, 'what just happened?' He prompted again, on not getting a response, he grabbed her shoulders, shaking her slightly, 'Olivia..?' Her eyes were on the exploded remains of Rosenbaum.

Olivia turned to Peter, 'I don't uh...' she began to say, her face looked pale, 'I don't feel too-' She threw up to her right on the ground, Peter swiftly swept her hair back, placing one arm around her supportively. Peter glared a his father, 'did you just kill a man?'

'No-no-son, you see I-I think, he had a timer placed in him-and when I inserted the formula-it prematurely detonated-they're going to put me away!' Walter said, this was the first time Peter had seen terror in his eyes.

'No, no they're not. I won't let that happen. It wasn't your fault.'

'No!' the old man said angrily as his slammed his fist against a metal locker, 'They're going to put me away until they discover it-I can't go back-'

Peter felt torn, on one hand he had Olivia in his arms, who needless to say wasn't handling the explosion well, and then there was his senile father who also needed attention.

'Walter, just relax. I'll take care of it...' Peter said, much to his surprise Olivia pushed Peter away, not saying a word, she ran her hands over her face and walked out of the room, leaving Peter standing there with empty arms.

'Tell her I'm sorry.' Walter said sadly.

'It wasn't your fault.' Peter said shortly.

Walter's eyes stung with tears, Peter felt exceptionally uncomfortable, 'Walter...' he said firmly, 'Don't. Cry.' But it was no use, much to Peter's discomfort, Walter sobbed, terrified of what his fate may become.

'I can't go back-'

'Alright,' Peter said comfortingly as he reluctantly patted shoulder on the back, Walter mistook the pat for a welcome to hug Peter. Which he did and did so tightly. 'Oookay,' Peter said as his father clung to him dearly, 'great. Walter, brilliant.' After a pause, he reluctantly wrapped his arms around his distraught father.

_I hate Boston. _He thought to himself with a defeated sigh.

FBI Building:

The locker room:

Peter lingered in the doorway of the locker room, his emerald gaze on Olivia as she cried, unaware of his presence.

For a moment he wondered if it was better for Olivia if he left her alone in here, he knew how much they both hated being seen as vulnerable by other people. It was one of the few things he knew and cherished about her. He hated seeing her like this, she was a good person, she didn't deserve to go through all of this.

Without further hesitation, Peter walked towards her, 'Broyles and Langley have decided it wasn't your fault and you won't be reprimanded for what happened.'

He noticed her pause as she composed herself before facing him, her tear stained cheeks glistened in the dimly lit locker room.

She didn't say a word, she simply looked at him.

Peter pulled his hands out of his jean pockets, 'but they wanna put Walter into incarceration whilst their forensics find evidence that it wasn't his fault...probably afew days at best.'

Olivia studied him, he tried to hide it, but she knew he loved his father deep down.

'I'm sorry.'

'It wasn't your fault.' Peter said simply as stood opposite her.

Olivia did her best to keep her defences up, she never let anyone see her cry, it wasn't something she did. She was usually in control of her emotions around people.

'Mind if I join you?' He asked gently.

Olivia looked up at him, after considering him, she turned her eyes to the ground, nodding slightly.

Peter sat besides her, 'How're you holding up?'

Olivia smiled sadly, 'Not good.' She admitted softly.

Peter watched her, waiting for her to meet his gaze. But Olivia couldn't bring herself to, she knew that if she saw any sympathy in his eyes or even a hint of worry in them, it would crumble her defences and she would breakdown.

He knew she was avoiding eye contact purposely, but he wouldn't let her escape her own emotions. In the world she worked in, it was vital to feel what she was feeling so she could let go of it and move in. Peter did something neither he or Olivia expected, he reached out and grazed her cheek with his hand, leaving her no choice but to react, 'hey,' he whispered gently.

Her green eyes met his, she shook her head as tears began to stream down her cheeks, 'I killed him...' she said weakly. 'I killed a man-'

'No. Someone else put that timer in him.' Peter said firmly, 'it wasn't your fault...he was a ticking bomb waiting to go off-'

Olivia shook her head and turned away from Peter, she needed more persuasion Peter decided.

Peter touched her chin, 'look at me,' his eyes were on hers, 'Olivia, he was gonna die sooner or later-if anything, by having him in the lab when he exploded, you saved the lives of whoever he was meant to kill-'

For a moment, Olivia found herself drowning in his eyes, the shades of green and flecks of what seemed to be blue and brown seemed to have an endless depth that drew her closer to him.

It was then that Agent Olivia Dunham realised her attraction to Peter Bishop.

'C'mere,' he said soothingly, pulling her into an embrace. He held her firmly as she buried her face in his shoulder, right now she needed support, she needed a friend. Screw all of his rules about not letting people close. Olivia wasn't like all the other people he had come across in life, she deserved a shoulder to lean on, and by letting her in, Peter was setting her apart.

'You're not a murderer Olivia...this wasn't your fault.' He whispered gently, somehow answering all of the questions she hadn't had the courage to ask even herself. 'Trust me.'

Olivia felt safe in his warm but firm hold, she let him hold her for a moment longer as she closed her eyes, resting her head on his shoulder.

Peter held her close, observing the way his heart leapt in his chest at the feeling of her breath against his neck, he let go of his hold on her, for a moment, he let irrational thought take over his feelings.

_Why can't I think about anything but kissing her? _He marvelled, rarely the one to be besotted in a relationship, Peter was mesmerized.

Olivia lifted her head, curious to find why the comfort he was offering had suddenly pulled away from her.

What she saw in his eyes set off a series of sparks in her heart.

The locker room door swung open as Agent Charlie Francis walked in, Olivia quickly turned to face Charlie, as did Peter.

Charlie stared at the two of them, he'd walked in on Olivia and John sitting closely before and seen her look slightly caught off guard, but right now, she looked completely flustered. He looked from Olivia to the Bishop boy, Olivia's cheeks were red and Peter Bishop's eyes were on the floor.

'Liv...you okay?' he asked protectively, Olivia nodded.

'I'm fine Charlie...' she nodded, glancing at Peter, who didn't dare to meet her gaze.

He was too busy trying to understand where the wave of passion in his chest had come from...

Peter noticed Charlie fold his arms, he was marking his territory, and for tonight, Peter would let him.

Olivia turned to Peter as he climbed to his feet, 'where are you going?'

She asked, a part of her didn't want him to leave just yet.

'I should probably uh...' he nodded at the door behind Agent Francis, 'See Walter...he's pretty upset about the incarceration thing...' he said with a smile.

Olivia nodded, not taking her eyes off Peter as he walked out, leaving her and Charlie alone.

'Should I be worried?' Charlie asked.

'About what?' Olivia asked, her eyes were on the door as in swung shut.

'About the fact that you didn't take your eyes off him, not even once, as he left the room?'

Olivia looked at Charlie, she climbed to her feet, 'Drop it Charlie.'

She knew he wouldn't understand, because she wasn't sure if she understood what her and Peter had either.

'No I won't drop it-What happened with John hurt you Liv-' he said, holding her arm to get her attention, 'I'm just looking out for you.'

'You don't have to, not with Peter.' She said, 'he isn't like John.'

'And John wasn't like the others...' Charlie shot back, 'right?'

Olivia frowned at him, 'There is nothing going on between Peter and I. And even if there was-It's not your business. It never has been.' She said bluntly.

'Look, Liv-'

'Charlie, I appreciate that you kept your mouth shut about John and I...I do. But that's over. He betrayed me-'

'He broke your heart-is that what Peter should get? A broken heart in exchange for his?'

'You're getting way ahead of yourself-me and Peter? We're just friends.'

'That's not how it looked to me when I walked in...'

'I'm not discussing this with you.' She said as she brushed past him.

'Will you discuss it with Broyles then?' Charlie retorted.

Olivia met his stare full on, 'Don't threaten me Charlie.'

Charlie watched Olivia leave, he shook his head in exasperation.

'This isn't good Olivia...' he said, desperately trying to get her attention.

Olivia turned on her heel and faced him, 'Who are you to decide who I see and who I don't?'

This silenced him for a moment.

'So you admit you're seeing him then?'

'No.' Olivia said simply, before walking away.

Charlie let out a defeated sigh, his boss would not be happy about the latest piece of information.

End chapter seven:


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter eight:

Olivia stared at Peter's door, she couldn't decide whether to go home, or do what she had come here to do.

She took in a deep breath, she knew exactly why she was here, she knew exactly what she wanted to do. She just didn't have the nerve to do it.

_Why am I so nervous about this? He feels it too, I've seen it in his eyes a countless number of times..._Then why was she so reluctant to make the first move?

_Just do it, just knock on the door and when he answers-kiss him._

What if he didn't feel the same way...? _No, come on...you drove all the way out here and now you're just gonna go back home?? _

_Urgh, what am I doing?_

She ran a hand through her hair and glanced at the door, there it stood. Firm. Keeping her and Peter apart.

_Great, now you're blaming the door-since when have you been a coward?? _She asked herself.

Olivia walked towards the door, _Here goes..._ she braced herself as she raised a hand, _please answer the door when I knock Peter..._

Before her knuckles could wrap on the door, Peter swung it open, he looked shocked to see her standing there.

'Uh O-Olivia...?'

'Hey...'

'What're you uh...' he furrowed his brow, trying to find the words, hoping she wouldn't notice the way he had pulled the door closer to him, so she couldn't see what was going on inside. But she noticed.

'What's going on?' She asked bluntly.

Peter smiled at her, as if he didn't know what she was referring to.

'Shouldn't I be asking you that?' He quipped.

Olivia met his gaze with a look of disdain. _Nice Try Bishop._ She pushed past him.

'Olivia wait...!'

Olivia stormed into the living room, she could hear Peter following her in, his attempts to stop her landed on deaf ears.

Olivia came to a halt in the lounge, her eyes landed on three men, all in black suits with maroon shirts. Her gaze shifted to the man in the centre of the room, he was tall, relatively handsome, with short dark hair.

'I'm FBI Agent Olivia Dunham...' She said, putting out a hand to shake his, knowing full well that Peter was probably writhing out of discomfort behind her. Peter sighed, as he ran a hand through his hair. This wasn't good.

Big Eddie smiled down at the hot FBI agent, 'You can call me Eddie, Olivia.' The instant Olivia heard his tone, she realised how dangerous the man potentially was. He had a calculating look in his eyes, and an edge to his voice as he shook her hand, Olivia glanced at their hands, when the handshake was over, his hand lingered against hers for a moment too long. Olivia pulled her hand aside.

So this was Big Eddie. The one Peter was running from.

'You're friends of Peter's?' She asked.

'Let's talk about you instead,' he said with a smile that was as charming as it was predatory.

'She's got nothing to do with me Eddie, leave her alone...'

Eddie smiled, 'Then why is she at your apartment so early in the morning,' he asked, then he turned to Olivia, a hungry smile on his lips, 'Or should I say, so late at night?'

Olivia glared at him, Peter took Olivia's arm and pulled her to his side, it was as if the men were two animals marking their hold on the unsuspecting prey.

Olivia glanced at Peter as he protectively stepped forward, forcing Eddie to look at him instead of Olivia.

'She's got nothing to do with this. Take your money and go.'

'Oh come on now Petey,' Eddie said with a warm smile, he grabbed Peter's cheek roughly and gave it a squeeze, Peter pulled out of his hold. Olivia watched Eddie carefully, Peter wasn't one to take crap off anyone, the fact that he was letting Eddie treat him like that was a big thing.

'You holding out on me buddy?' Eddie asked Peter.

'Eddie-Don't touch her-' Peter began to say as Eddie pushed him aside and approached Olivia. Olivia reached behind her back cautiously, her hand landing on the cold metal handle of her gun. She gripped it. Ready.

Eddie raised a hand towards her cheek, a look of thirst his in eyes.

Olivia glared at him, she hated slime balls like Big Eddie.

_Do it, I dare you. _Her eyes challenged his, the instant his fingertips grazed her cheeks Peter erupted.

'HEY!' Peter yelled, Eddie turned around only to have Peter grab his shoulder and punch him in the face, Eddie, being the big man he was barely even flinched, he returned the punch with a much more painful effect on poor Peter.

'Urgh!' Peter yelled as he cupped his nose.

Panicked, Olivia pulled out her gun, aiming it right between Eddie's eyes, 'HEY! THAT'S ENOUGH...! Get out of here!'

Eddie's henchmen all pulled out their guns, aiming them at Olivia. Peter wiped the blood from his nose, stubbornly glaring at Eddie. This wasn't over.

'Lower your weapons.' Eddie said calmly to his men, if anything, he seemed amused by Peter's passionate reaction. Eddie held Olivia's gaze.

'I should have known it was only a matter of time before you'd start sleeping with the FBI,' Eddie said to Peter.

'Eddie...just take the brief case and go.' Peter said cautiously, he would not endanger Olivia.

Eddie smiled at Olivia, 'I've got my eyes on you _sweetheart_.'

Olivia felt a wave of fury hit her, everything about Eddie reminded her of all the criminals she'd locked up, who had haunted her with their similarities to her stepfather.

She held the gun steadily. Eddie looked impressed by her defiance.

'Don't let this one slip through your fingers Petey...Or I'll catch her.'

_Shit. He's got his eyes on Olivia, damn it! _

Olivia didn't realise Eddie's words were a warning to Peter. A warning that chilled Peter to the bone.

'C'mon boys...' Eddie ordered, his henchmen swiftly aligned behind him as he walked out of the front door, briefcase in hand.

Peter slumped onto the couch, cupping his nose, 'It's okay...they're gone.' Olivia didn't budge, her gun held out before her, she wanted to be certain they were gone, after a moment, Olivia lowered her gun.

She walked over to the front door, locking it, for her own comfort rather than Peter's. She turned and faced Peter.

'What were you thinking Peter? Having them in the same house Walter is?'

'I don't wanna talk about it-'

'Facing them ALONE? What if I wasn't here-!?'

'It would have gone ALOT smoother!' he snapped back at her. Olivia studied him, he winced as he touched his nose.

'Let me have a look.'

'it's fine.' He mumbled.

'I wasn't asking.' She said shortly as she waked over to the couch. She studied his nose for a second, 'Okay, hold still-' Peter did as he was told.

'OW!' he yelled as she pushed his nose.

'That hurt right?'

'YES-'

'Good, because that's how I feel whenever you _try_ to lie to me...You're no good at it. So you should stop-'

This ruffled his temper, 'You know what, you're the first and _only _person who thinks that Olivia-I'm a _brilliant_ liar-'

'Was _that_ a lie? Because that was good.'

_Sarcasm. How mature._ Peter clenched his jaw, 'Why are you here? Besides for making my life difficult.'

_She better have a good reason, it's 3am..._

A pause...

_Just tell him..._

'I don't think I understand the answer to that myself.'

Peter tried to sneak a glance at her, but was caught red-handed in the process, her green eyes seemed to soften as his own landed on them, he quickly looked away, hoping he didn't seem to flustered. Olivia fought back a smile,_ Did he just try to check me out?_

'So...Big Eddie,' she nodded, 'That's where you got the 'sweetheart' thing from?'

Peter chuckled then immediately flinched as he touched his nose, Olivia grinned at him as he turned to face her.

'I spent alot of time with him...we kind of...got into a business-deal together...whether we like it or not, the people we spend time with change us.'

'Like spending time with me is making you a bad liar?' she asked, her voice was low but soft.

This drew a smile out of him, 'That's not why I find it hard to lie around you.'

_Give me something more than that..._she urged, wishing he would be the one to step up and point out what they had, she didn't want to put her heart on the line.

_I wish I could give her more than that...but I've given her enough already._

Another pause.

'Why did you say you came over again?' He asked, doing his best to ease the tension between them via smalltalk.

'You know what?' She said with a smile, 'I don't remember.' She climbed to her feet, 'put some ice on your nose, I'll see you in Broyles' office tomorrow morning.'

_She's going, stop her...come on, say something, anything, _'Why does Broyles wanna see me?'

'He wants to discuss Walter with you.'

_Is that really all he wants to ask me?_

'Oh.' He nodded, 'Alright, I'll see you then.'

'Yeah...' a whisper left her lips instead of a word.

Peter frowned as he followed her to the door.

'Olivia...?'

She turned around with an expectant look on her face.

'You come to my place at 3am...and then forget why you came...'

_What are you getting at Peter?_

He gave her a wry smile, with that thoughtful look he always had. 'And you call _me_ a bad liar?'

Olivia stepped closer to him, _What am I doing? Does he even feel the same way? Is this too soon?_

Ignoring the chaos in her mind, Olivia leaned closer and kissed him firmly. Peter raised an eyebrow as their lips collided, his hands reached her hips as she cupped his face. She was kissing him slowly now as the heat between them became more sensual, more undeniable. For the first time in years, Peter's mind went blank, all he could think of was kissing her back, which he did so, and tenderly.

_Get a grip, don't move too fast, just let yourself enjoy this..._he told himself, fighting the urge to kiss her passionately, instead he responded to her, letting her lead, kissing her how she wanted to be kissed.

As the kiss came to an end, Olivia pulled away, her eyes were still closed and her heart was racing in her chest.

One word was in her mind, _Wow._

Peter opened his eyes, his hands were still at her waist, their lips were inches apart, the heat between the two of them was palpable.

'Peter...' she whispered, pressing her forehead against his as their noses touched.

'You should go...' he replied, saying it for her. Olivia gave him a coy-yet grateful look. He pulled away, not letting her eyes leave his, she placed her hands over his as they let go of her waist, letting them linger over his, he watched her observantly, she had needless to say, blown him away. Olivia slowly let go of his hands as they returned by his side. Letting him know she was just as reluctant to leave as he was to end the kiss.

'Goodnight,' she whispered.

Peter was captivated, 'goodnight,' his lips replied as his voice caught in his throat, his mind was elsewhere, as was Olivia's.

_Stay, come on...change your mind..._Peter hoped silently as he leaned against the doorframe. Olivia climbed into the car, _I need to get out of here before I let myself give in..._She cast him a sheepish smile before turning on the engine.

'Bravo...' Walter chanted from behind Peter, Peter groaned as Walter clapped enthusiastically.

'You can sleep through the mob beating me up but you wake up in time to see-'

'I think she's attracted to you despite her own reasoning skills, son.' Walter said as he pat him on the shoulder. 'Don't screw it up.' Walter advised as he strolled into the kitchen.

Little did he realise what the impact of his words was having on his son.

_Don't screw it up._ Peter told himself. Big Eddie's eyes were on Olivia now, Broyles wanted to find a reason to incarcerate Walter for the explosion in the lab, Peter had punched a mob boss in the face, but all these worries were for tomorrow. Tonight, he would only be able to think about one thing and one thing only.

Olivia Dunham.

End chapter eight

_**AuthorNote: let me know if you think i should continue this,:) Thanks for all your feedback etc**_

_**H**_


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